All's fair in love and war
by black-lightning82
Summary: Things in Yukimori High change rapidly when the new girl shows up. She's not what they expected at all. Now amidst a battle between the populars and the punks she'll learn that all's fair in love and war. Hey, what better way to describe high school?
1. First Impressions

Hi. I just got inspiration for this story. I hope it's more original than it sounds. Sorry if this chapter's a bit short.

Disclaimer: Not that anyone ever bothers reading this but for those future, current, or retired lawyers among us: I do not own Beyblade and this disclaimer will not show up in any other chapters.

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_**Chapter 1: First Impressions**_

"Okay class. We have a new student today. This is Casey and she recently moved here from the USA."

"Kai," Tala hissed.

"What?" he growled back. Honestly, he had much better things to do than listen to some old hag preach about the American Revolution. Why did they teach them this crap anyways? They don't live in America for god's sake.

"Look." With a curt grunt Kai followed Tala's index finger to the front of the classroom. There stood a short girl (about 5' 1") with shoulder-length dark brown hair and piercing green eyes. She wore a yin yang necklace, loose blue-jeans, worn tennis shoes, and an extremely baggy black t-shirt. Not a spot of makeup dotted her face and she glanced about with a calculating gaze.

The only response he gave was a short smirk but that was more than enough. Kai reacting at all was a miracle. He could see now why Tala was so smug. There weren't many girls in the school who would wear something so…. Well, you get the idea. She wasn't exactly the prettiest girl either. The point was, she stuck out like a sore thumb.

Then her gaze finally rested on the pair. Tala's smirk deepened but she just studied them for a moment before moving on. The smirk turned to a scowl. Tala didn't like being ignored. He ran the show and if someone was ignorant of that fact, they would soon be taught.

"Who's she?" Kai asked disinterestedly.

Tala nearly face-faulted. _Nearly._ People with their reputation didn't do such things. "Where have you been for the last few minutes? No, the last few days? Did you not hear Allison go on and on about her new step-mom and step-sister moving in with her dad. She's been on about it constantly!"

"I've been avoiding Allison. She talks too much." Blunt, that was just like Kai.

"Casey-chan, why don't you go sit in front of Tala? Tala, raise your hand," the teacher ordered. With a sigh, Tala did as he was told and Casey approached, dumped her things on aforementioned desk, and sat down.

_Something's wrong,_ Kai thought. He studied the new girl's back. _Something about her seems… off._ And yet, try as he might, Kai couldn't figure out what he found so strange. The bell snapped him out of his thoughts.

When they reached the hallway, he found Tala looking at him funny. "What?" he demanded sharply.

"Something's up with you. You were staring at the new girl all class period."

Not wanting to let his friend get the wrong impression, he explained… kinda. "Something isn't right about her." It was odd for Kai to say the sum total of his knowledge, no matter how little that some total was. He didn't like to give away too much information, but how else was he supposed to say it?

"Come on Kai. Just cause she has trouble deciphering her gender…."

Kai rolled his eyes. "That's not what I meant." Catching the seriousness in Kai's tone, Tala sober instantly. What could make the unstoppable, undefeatable Kai so uncomfortable?

Lunchtime:

"CASEY!"

Said girl tensed as a loud shriek echoed down the hall in her direction. Suddenly, 2 arms crushed her in a hug from behind. "Hey Allison," she choked out.

"You promised me you'd sit at my table remember?" Not waiting for an answer, she dragged her stepsister towards the front of the lunch line. "The best part of being popular is not having to wait in line. Everyone moves out of your way!" Allison stopped short. "Well, almost anyone."

Casey looked ahead to find a group of kids at the front of the line sending out warning glares. They appeared to have secured the stereotypical categorization of 'The Punks.' "That's okay. I can wait. Maybe we should go to the back of the line th-."

"Nonsense." Allison pushed right past them, grip tightening nervously. She would have knocked over a shy-looking girl with long black hair but Casey caught her arm and steadied her. "Come ON Casey. If they haven't learned to get out of our way they might as well learn now." The dark-haired tomboy threw an apologetic look back at the girl who smiled her thanks. The punks, however, were not so accepting. Some gave her sympathetic looks and the others just glared ten-fold.

They finally reached the front of the line and handed the secretary some money. Casey followed her step-sister into the kitchen, picked up a tray and held it out to a cook when she saw something she liked. The pair then proceeded to sit at a long table in the center of the room.

"So," Allison started as she sat down. "What do you think of Kai and Tala?"

"Tala… Oh yeah, the teacher pointed him out. He's the red-head right?"

"Yeah, and Kai is the guy with the blue hair that was probably sitting next to him. They're like the kings of the school, not to mention super hot." Allison looked at her interestedly. "Though you obviously haven't met them yet or you would know exactly who I'm talking about."

Casey shrugged. "You're right, I haven't really met them yet but they look a bit arrogant, and I don't tend to take to people whose egos exceed their worth." Allison paled and her smile dropped. The clearing of a throat behind her confirmed her suspicion that her luck had long since abandoned her. This, my friends, is what we call Social Suicide and it is considered a big mistake in most high schools. She nearly groaned. _Nearly._ If these guys thought they were going to get her to bow down to them they had another thing coming. She did, however, realize that starting an argument would lead to something far most unpleasant. These boys gave off a violent aura. Not to mention they tended to be _very_ protective of their pride.

"Allison." They nodded acknowledgement to said girl but ignored her completely. Not that she minded. She was a quiet person. Her business was her own and she had no need to let other people in on it. Then, it got worse. They sat down on the other side of the table. Kai sat directly across from her, glaring. Why couldn't he figure it out?

"That's all you're eating?" Allison demanded of her step-sister in an attempt to start a conversation.

"Yes."

"You anorexic?"

She looked up at Tala without interest. "No." Casey might have liked keeping her thoughts to herself but Tala didn't mind sharing his opinions.

"Hey Alli, I think you're sister's confused. First, she doesn't seem to have picked a gender. Second, she doesn't respect her superiors." He smirked at her but she didn't appear to be paying attention. She was staring into space and eating at a punishingly slow rate. "Hey new kid!" He snapped his fingers in front of her face and she snapped back to reality.

"Huh? Oh, can I help you?"

"When I talk, you listen." It was a strict order, and he was bound to back it up. That didn't stop the flash of irritation in her eyes. Kai saw it, Tala didn't.

"Excuse me Allison. I think I'll find another place to sit." She gathered up her tray and scanned the room for an empty seat. But the cafeteria was packed and the only open seats were the one she had just left unoccupied (quickly claimed by someone else), and one at the punk's table. Wonderful.

Tala smirked. "Last I checked, they didn't seem too happy with you."

She snapped back before she could stop herself. "They can't be much worse than you. Maybe they will bother to think before speaking." Committing Social Suicide twice in one day was not good on one's social standing. Once was bad, but _twice. Heh, I really need to work on my first impressions._

She walked over to the punk's table amidst many stares and sat down at the end. It took a moment for her to realize that the girl sitting next to her was the one that Allison had almost knocked over. Now that she wasn't being dragged around she was able to take the time to look at the girl. She had waist-length raven hair, big blue eyes, and wore a long jean skirt, a plain white t-shirt, and clean tennis shoes in considerably better condition than her own.

After a tense pause one guy with spiky black hair and a red streak in it decided to speak up. He sat to the left of the guy directly across from her. "What do you want?"

She couldn't help but glare. "I want to hear that I'm not the only one who _doesn't_ think Tala is the best thing that's happened to the Earth."

The entire table exchanged looks and the boy leaned over the table, holding out a hand. Surprisingly, he gave her a small smile. "Hey, I'm Ozuma. Welcome to the club."


	2. Easier to Hide

Hello again! I'm not in such a rush to post this time so this chapter will probably be a bit longer. I'm sending a personal thank you out to Kai-Hiwatari-Lover and Bright Black Stars for reviewing. Oh, and the first chapter sounded a bit like Tala bashing but I'll do better in this chapter, I promise!

_**Chapter 2: Easier to Hide**_

Aya. That was her name. Ozuma had gone around the table the other day and introduced everyone. After that I had just slipped into me again. I liked being invisible. Things went smoother when I wasn't involved. Not to say that some of the punks weren't still watching me, studying me, and asking questions but after a few of my 2-3 word answers they figured that I was most comfortable on my own.

Apparently, the same went for Aya. She didn't talk much. Actually, throughout the entire lunch period, I hadn't heard her talk at all. The only thing she did to show she had heard anyone was laugh quietly at a few jokes. Otherwise she simply sat and ate her lunch. I hadn't felt particularly hungry after my little outburst and allowed the boy across from me (whose name was Tyson) to eat what was left on the condition that he took care of my tray. He did.

That was yesterday. I am currently sitting in a chair at the kitchen table. An uncomfortable chair at that. It was wooden and the padding that was supposed to cover the seat had disappeared. Not to mention it rocked back and forth.

But I dealt. I finished my breakfast of a granola bar and a glass of milk, washed the cup, and began making my lunch. Allison stumbled in a few minutes later, still in her pajamas, and scowled at me.

"Why are you up so early?" she demanded.

"I always get up this early." Her scowl deepened. She grabbed some orange juice from the fridge, pouring herself a glass, and fixed a large bowl of cereal. She was probably still angry with me about yesterday. That was to be expected. She just didn't understand that I wasn't cut out to be popular. I was the person you noticed for the first week or so and then dropped off of the edge of the planet. Like I said: things ran smoother when I kept my nose out of them.

Not that that had stopped some particularly nosey people. They would drag you into their group, annoy the crap out you, and seemingly took attendance every day to make sure you hadn't run off by yourself. They say it leads to depression, but I think staying leads to insanity. Not that my opinion much counted.

By the time I had finished packing my lunch Allison had disappeared. I assumed she had gone to take a shower when I heard water running on my way past the bathroom. Looking outside, I found that the sun was just starting to rise. It looked warm out. But if I left I'd have to tell Allison and she would just screech about how I have strange habits. It was at that moment I realized that I didn't care. Actually, that I realized she wouldn't care. I wasn't popular so she wanted little to do with me. If I left, she would not notice until she saw my truck gone. Maybe the fact that she left me to walk the entire 2 miles across town to our house after school yesterday was motivation as well. After all, she was the one that had made me ride with her that morning, since her car was 'acceptable.'

That was an insult. Maybe my little '92 ford ranger didn't run the best, and maybe it wasn't a sleak mustang convertable but I happened to like it. The only down side was the manual drive. Of course, that meant that the only people who could drive it were me and mom.

I yanked open the door, threw my backpack in the passenger seat, and pressed a button to open one of the garage doors. Oh yeah, did I mention that this was a _4-car garage._ We never had _that_ back in Iowa. At least not that I've seen.

But anyways, I drove the 2 miles across town (not killing it once!) and pulled into an empty school parking lot. I hadn't expected anyone to be here an hour before school started. Psht, I bet most of them weren't even awake yet. I sat a few minutes in my truck, listening to the radio. They only had 2 American channels: oldies/country and punk/emo rock. I used to listen to country a lot but I discovered rock a few months before I moved here. The current song: Rooftops. It was one of my favorites.

When the song ended, I got out of my truck and wandered the grounds, just walking. I settled on a picnic table, stretched out in the early sunlight. It felt good. Then again, I never had been a night person.

"So I'm not the only one who comes out this early." I turned at the new voice, vaguely wondering why I hadn't heard him coming. "Casey, right?"

I nodded and smiled up at the boy. He had red/orange hair and sparkling turquoise eyes. I thought a moment before responding. "Brooklyn, right?" He seemed to be more of a loner than a punk but he sat at the punk's lunch table anyways. He smiled back and laid down on the table next to me. This is the point where many people would ask themselves: _Does he like me? Is that why he's laying next to me?_ But Brooklyn wasn't like that. He had that aura that just made you comfortable. Like a big brother.

We laid in silence for another 15 minutes simply enjoying each other's company. A harsh gust of wind blew over us for a moment but it passed. Or it seemed to. Brooklyn frowned and sat up.

"What's wrong?"

He didn't answer right away. He just stared in the direction the wind had come from. "Nothing... Everything's fine." He regarded me for a moment and then reached in his bookbag. "Do you mind if I read you tarot cards? It's this thing I like to do to everyone."

I smiled and sat up. "Sure. I've never done it before, but it looks interesting." He pulled out a deck of cards. They were navy blue with a swirling golden design on the back. He held it out to me and I took it uncertainly. Something felt strange. It was almost like I could sense the truth in them before they were even turned over. Like they were directly linked with fate.

"Shuffle them," he said quietly. I did. He let me go for a few more minutes until I suddenly had the feeling that it was time to stop. His smile brightened a smidge. "Now cut the deck into three piles with your left hand." I did that too. That feeling I got when I first took the cards grew stronger. "Stack them up again, the pile on your right on top. Now flip over the top three cards, putting the first one clear to the right."

He paled imperceptably when the last card was flipped over. I had no idea what they stood for so I just looked up at him for an explanation.

"Oh no," his voice was rushed and her gathered the cards up quickly. "I'm really sorry, I have to run home. I just realized that I forgot to print off my final copy of that Literature paper. I have to run home really quick."

"No, no. That's okay. Go. Mrs. Yutomi is really strict when it comes to late assignments." He seemed genuinely sorry but I had a nagging suspicion that he wasn't telling me the truth. Never-the-less, I let him run off towards his car and disappear around the other side of the school building.

_**Brooklyn's POV:**_

I pulled into the parking lot of the gas station and pulled out the deck of tarot cards. I flipped the first card over quickly. _The Fool is the symbol of the past. That's expected. The Fool stands for change. She just moved here and has changed things already._ I set the Fool on my lap and flipped over the next card, the present. _The 2 of swords. Indecision and trouble ahead. In need of well balanced emotions. _Hands shaking, I flipped over the last card. The card that spoke of the future.

_The death card._

_Transformation and unexpected change._

_As well as loss... failure... illness... and death... _

_**Casey's POV:**_

It was another half hour before people began to start showing up. I earned a few glances but was relatively ignored. I never did see Brooklyn again which made me even more suspicious. Surely it wouldn't take that long to print out a paper. Then again, if his computer was anything like my old one that wouldn't be a safe bet.

I decided to just forget about it for now. 'Don't tempt fate' and all that. I saw Aya walk by. She paused, smiled, and waved. I smiled back and gestured for her to come over. She did. I patted the picnic table and she sat down.

"Hey. You're Aya, right?" She nodded. "I'm Casey." I held out my hand and she shook it, smile widening.

"I know."

"So you do talk." She blushed in embarassment. "It's okay. I just haven't heard you actually say anything before."

"Sorry."

"'Bout what?"

"Nevermind." She looked down at her watch. "I should probably go get my things for class. The bell should be ringing in a few minutes for the 5 minute warning.

"I'll go with you. I need to get my stuff too."

"Okay."

I followed her up the front steps, through the large double doors, up 2 more flights of stairs, and down the hallway before stopping in front of the junior's lockers. Funny thing. My locker was right next to hers. How do you get luck like that? I want more of it.

Anyways, I sincerely hoped I wasn't annoying her. Everyone seemed to have somewhere else to be, something to hide. Maybe I should just let myself disappear. Maybe I shouldn't even try to be accepted by these people. She shut her locker and gave me a knowing look. "Don't be so discouraged. Hiding's easy but eventually you'll have to come out and the longer you wait, the harder it'll be."

I have to admit, I just stared. It was almost like...

She laughed. "I can't read your mind. I just have a 6th sense when it comes to people's feelings." She must have seen the skepticle look I gave her because she proceeded to read me like an open book. "You're nervous, probably about what Tala's planning for you. You're also confused about your relationship with people here. Something is also troubling you. Like you're looking for something... or someone- or maybe both." She smiled as I admittedly gaped. There, I said it. My pride has been destroyed.

"How did you... Nevermind." I flicked my own locker shut. "I'm not sure I want to know. Ignorance is bliss."

She laughed again. "Come on, let's go to homeroom." I followed her, slightly surprised that she was in my homeroom. I hadn't noticed. "So, where did you live before you moved here?"

"Rural Iowa. It's got to be one of the top ten most boring places in the world." Odd. I just gave out information about myself free of charge.

"I guessed it was in a small town or the country. You seem really out of place in such a large city. Kyoto has get to be one of the biggest- with exception to Tokyo."

"And you? Tell me about yourself. Favortie color, animal, music, sport, TV show, subject in school. _Anything." _She smiled again.

"You want to be familiar with people. You like to know about others but prefer not to return the favor." I must have been getting used to it. I didn't even blink this time. "Well, my favorite color is purple, song: 'The Final', sport: volleyball, TV show: Yu Yu Hakusho, and school subject: psychology."

"I like Yu Yu Hakusho too. It's a really good anime."

"You didn't answer all of the questions."

"Why should I? You seem to know more about me than I do."


	3. Party Time

Hello. New chapter! Okay, well… enjoy!

_**Chapter 3: Party Time**_

"You remember Miriam, Salima, and Queen from lunch." I nodded as Aya led me over to a group of 3 girls near the back of the classroom. "Guys, you remember Casey."

"Hi!" Miriam had long, indigo-colored hair pulled up into a ponytail and wore flared blue-jeans, a red tank-top, and a jean-jacket. She seemed to be more of the tough girl. Everything about her radiated a 'mess with me and your ass is roadkill.' She definitely looked to be someone I could get along with. I gave a small wave back to her.

"Nice to meet you." Salima had spiky red hair, the same color as Tala's. She wore black shorts, a lavender t-shirt, and a silver necklace with a tiger on it. She seemed nice enough but also looked quite stubborn. I had the feeling that once she made up her mind, nobody could change it. I shook her outstretched hand.

"Hey." Queen just looked bored. She had shoulder-length raven hair, and onyx eyes (I really don't know what color her eyes are. Please review and tell me). She wore long black pants and a thigh-length white shirt with a black, sleeveless jacket over it. This was, quite obviously, the bad girl of the group with a glare that could freeze a tornado in it's tracks.

"So, what's up?" Aya demanded. "You guys are excited about something. Well... most of you are."

"You haven't heard yet?" Miriam asked. "Lee's throwing a party." She thought it over before restating it. "The Wongs are having a party. Lee invited us and Mariah will be inviting her friends." All of them grimaced.

"Mariah?" I asked curiously.

"She's in Tala's group," Aya exclaimed. "She isn't so bad but if she invites her friends... Well it's going to be quite a party." She shifted uneasily and I could guess why. The groups in general didn't seem to get along very well. 'Quite the party' meant 'violence galore.'

"You should come," Salima suggested, looking at me.

"Yeah," Queen smirked, "it'll be a good show." Mariam hit her behind the head. Queen glared in response but the dark-haired girl was unaffected.

Aya and Salima rolled their eyes in exasperation and I couldn't help but laugh a bit. "When is it?" Aya asked.

"Saturday," they all replied simultaneously. I laughed a bit more. Hey, Mariam joined me! That means I'm not completely mental... right?

_Saturday: (I know I skipped 3 days. I need to do this before I can work in some of my other ideas)_

"Thanks for the ride," Mariam said as she ducked into the passenger seat.

"No problem. Besides, it's not exactly a limo."

She shrugged. "It's better than nothing."

I let my foot off the clutch slowly and pressed on the gas to get moving. Mariam gave me directions to the Wong's house. We had gotten to be pretty good friends over the last few days, though Aya is still my best friend. I'd also met Lee. He was pretty cool. I'd also seen Mariah once. She was a bit talkative and girly but tolerable.

We pulled up to a large house. Okay, a HUGE house. The paved driveway was surrounded by trees. Up ahead, I could see cars pulled off into the grass_. What, no parking lot_? I pulled up behind a sleek black convertible. The seats were a tan leather and I have to admit, I was a bit jealous. Who could afford a car like that? Certainly not me. Mariam led the way to the back of the house. Not that I couldn't have found the party on my own. The music screaming from the deck by the pool was loud enough to be heard from 5 miles away.

"It's a pool party?" I asked Mariam.

"Would you have put on a swimsuit if I had told you was?" That was a good point. I wouldn't have wanted to swim even if I did have a swimsuit and had known that they had a pool. Mariam, however, had no qualms. She pulled off the clothes she had been wearing to reveal a navy bikini.

I backed away as she canon-balled in, sending a large splash over the edge of the pool. "Casey, there you are!" I turned to see Aya running in my direction. "I was beginning to wonder if you would show up."

"Here I am. Now what?" She rolled her eyes at my sense of being out of place.

"Now we go sit on that bench over there and listen to the music 'til our eardrums burst."

"Isn't that painful?" Never-the-less, we sat on the bench. I listened carefully and began to sing along with the music. I always had been pretty good at that kind of thing. Besides, nobody could hear me anyways. Aya started singing too when it came to a song she knew.

After a while she stood. "Let's go get something to eat. My throat's getting dry." I nodded and followed her into the house. The large room contained many tables covered heavily with snacks. The rest of the walls were lined with couches, most of them occupied by couples. It was at least a bit quieter in here but that made my ears ring like they were trying to replace it.

I grabbed a paper plate and started working my way down the table. "Why aren't you swimming?" I asked.

She blushed. "I... I can't swim," she whispered.

"Oh. I'm not the best either. I guess we can just sit and not swim together for another few hours." I selected a treat from one of the many trays. Back at home we called them no-bake cookies. Lame right? Yeah, I thought so too. _I wonder what they call them here. It's got to be better than no-bake cookie._ We located an unoccupied couch and sat down to enjoy our snacks. When my plate was empty I left to go to the bathroom. Aya stayed on the couch. She seemed to be vulnerable sitting their all alone so I made up my mind to hurry.

I wasn't fast enough.

_**Aya's POV:**_

I sat patiently, waiting for Casey to return. When I was finished with my plate I threw it away in the waste basket a few feet away. I was only alone for a moment. A red-head claimed the seat right next to me, draping an arm over my shoulder. "Tala?" I tried to move further away but I was already pressed up against the arm of the chair.

"Hey." He was so close. I felt my heart begin to beat so hard I swear he could hear it over the deafening music and my face burned. He leaned really close, lips brushing my ear. He smelled of cinnamon. It was light, but noticeable. "I've been looking for you."

I shivered and stood up. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pushed me up against the wall. My head told me it was wrong but it _felt_ right. "W-what are you doing?" I stuttered.

"Come on now. Don't be rude. I just wanted to see you. I've taken quite a liking to you." I shivered again as he leaned closer. My thoughts were whirling about in my brain and I couldn't stop myself from looking up into his icy blue eyes.

Confusion was replaced immediately by anger. _How dare he!_ I pushed him away roughly. "You're just using me to get to Casey! You just want revenge for her making a fool of you!" I accused. He allowed a moment's surprise before letting irritation flash across his features and settle in to stay. "Are you that desperate?"

He snapped. Grabbing my wrist, he pulled me up and growled in my face. "Don't you _ever_ call me desperate!"

I tried to escape his grip but it wasn't working. He was too strong. That didn't mean I wasn't going to have the last word. "You're desperate!" I snarled. This time he dragged me out of the sliding doors, across the dance floor, and to the edge of the pool. I guess he saw the fear written all over my face because he smirked triumphantly before shoving me into the 8 feet of water.

_**Return to Casey's POV:**_

I saw it as if in slow motion. Aya fell, the water splashing up before surging over her body. _"I... I can't swim."_

"Aya!" I shouted. Without thinking, I dove in, forcing my eyes to open and praying my contacts would stay in. She was thrashing about with her eyes closed tightly. I swam over as fast as I could, my clothes slowing me down. I roughly grabbed her around the waist and pushed off of the bottom of the pool.

We both erupted form the surface, sputtering, in time to see Queen deck Tala. Mariam was calling out to us as we struggled to the edge of the pool. I could already feel Aya trembling, not entirely from the temperature. The blue-haired girl grabbed Aya under the arms and hauled her out of the pool. I just clung to the pool's edge and panted. After regaining my breath, I pulled myself up onto hard cement. When I had gotten my feet underneath me I began to wring out my clothing. The others were taking good care of the still-frightened Aya.

My contacts hadn't obeyed me and were currently lying beneath several feet of water. Mariah to the rescue. She rushed out with a towel for each of us. By now, we were both shivering. I took a seat next to Aya. She hugged my neck and refused to let go.

She didn't have to say a word. I just hugged her back protectively. Mariam may have had the 'mess with me and your ass is roadkill' attitude, but I had a 'mess with my friends and I'm gonna rearrange your face' attitude. The best part: I didn't even have to do that. Queen had certainly proved that bad-girl image came from more than just a glare.

Fortunately for Tala, King (her twin brother) had stopped her before she drew blood.

After a while I began to wonder how I was going to get home. I couldn't drive in the dark without my contacts and I didn't think that Mariam could drive a stick. This night was getting better and better. And I had only been here 2 hours! Eventually, Lee agreed to drive me home and then pick me up tomorrow morning so that I could return for my truck. The down side? I had to stay for the rest of the party.

Everyone was tense when around another person they weren't perfectly good friends with. I at least took pleasure in watching Tala nurse a black eye on the other side of the pool. I'd have to thank Queen later. Aya and I sat and shivered for another half hour until our clothes had dried.

After listening to the music for a while Aya finally perked up. "This is my favorite song!" she told me. She sang to it happily. It was good to see her smile again.

_**Tala's POV:**_

I saw her lips moving perfectly to the song. How could she be the one smiling and laughing while I sat here with ice covering my left eye to keep the swelling down? How could she be the one enjoying herself when I was supposed to be running the show? And why couldn't I stop thinking about it?

Simple.

Out of all of the girls I'd dated, all the girls I'd used, _she_ was the only one that had ever pushed me away. Sure, some of them had figured it out after a while, but they had always held on in the hopes that I would change my mind. Or maybe they had just wanted it, just once more.

Whatever the case, I felt... I don't know. Something. Like there was a rock in my chest. I remember feeling something like this before. It had happened when Bryan had gotten hurt really bad. He had been in their gang, helping them hold their territory. Then, in a more violent scuffle, one of the opposing gang members had pulled a gun. He remembered seeing as if in slow motion as the bullet ripped through the silver-haired boy's shoulder. His parents had made him move after that. They'd taken him away from the gangs, the drugs, the street fighting.

We had been high the night that Bryan got shot. That's when we swore out of the drugs. I remembered being sick for the next month after laying off of it but we had pulled through. All of us.

And yet, I still felt that rock- the guilt- about not being able to protect Bryan. We were friends. I should have been able to do something more. But that was different. Why was I felling guilty now?

I swiped a hand through my hair. What was she doing to me?


	4. Weak Defense

Hey there everyone! I'm so sorry. If you haven't read my profile yet: I've been at my grandparents' house for the last couple of weeks and they don't have the internet so I haven't been able to update.

_**Chapter 4: Weak Defense**_

I was singing to the radio on my way home from the Wong household when I heard Aya's favorite song come on. I have to admit it was a pretty good song. I'd have to remember to ask her to teach me the lyrics. The only part I knew was the chorus.

I pulled in the driveway but stopped with my palm resting on the cool metal handle. Allison was still refusing to talk to me and my parents had been furious when I came home late, smelling like chlorine, and without my truck. Mom was being particularly fussy. Apparently, I was 'hiding' in my room again and she was threatening to take my door off of it's hinges. It wasn't an empty threat either. She'd done it before. I'd heard her fighting a lot lately with her new husband. I knew why. She was so stressed about being in a new place with so many strange people. That was probably the reason for this story about me hiding. Maybe if I hadn't convinced her to marry him-- to move here-- she would be happy. I told you things went smoother when I kept my nose out of them.

I parked my truck and went to tell Mom I was going to see Aya, but as I opened the door I was pulled into a tight hug. Kicking the door shut with my heel I hugged my sobbing mother back. Silver tears were spilling freely down her cheeks and smearing her makeup. "Mom, what's wrong? Where's Takeshi (step- dad)?"

"He left," she choked out. I peered through the front window, finally registering the dark black tire marks where he usually parked his car after work. "I don't want to do it again, Casey. He's just like your dad. He's never happy. I don't want to have to work through his temper to find him again."

I patted her back gently, remembering how my father always used to come home from work angry, how he would drink almost every night. How he died driving home from the bar and killed a classmate of mine driving his date home from the movies. That time I hadn't interferred enough. I should have stopped him that night. I should have called the police to tell them to pull him over. I should have hidden his car keys. I should have done _something..._ but I didn't.

"It was a mistake ever coming here. It was a mistake getting married to him. I can't do it again. I can't."

Suddenly, the door opened again and Takeshi stormed in, face flushed and wobbling gently in th all-too-familiar drunken way. "What are you doing woman? Crying? Crying is for the weak!" he spat. Mom sobbed even harder and it seemed to make him even angrier. "I said _**stop crying!" **_he shouted. Then he did the unthinkable. He raised his hand to her.

I pushed her out of the way and felt a fist smash into my face. The next thing I knew, I was sprawled out on my back.

He looked at me, then at his hand, then at me again. Suddenly, he burst into tears. "I'm so sorry Casey. I should never have done that. Why did I do that?" He fell to his knees, not even trying to wipe away the tears. "I'm sorry Maddie," he told my mother. She just stared back at him for a moment.

"Promise me," she said softly. "If you promise me that you'll never get drunk again, I'll forgive you."

He reached out shakily and pulled her into a gentle hug. "Of course I promise. Anything for your forgivness." It was a strange sight, seeing my mom and my step- dad, my parents, sitting there, both on their knees, crying and hugging. After a few minutes they both wiped away their tears and she led him to the bathroom to get cleaned up.

Allison poked her head out from the kitchen. "Is he better?" I looked at Takeshi and saw him kissing Mom then nodded to her. She sighed in relief. "Good. He's only gotten drunk a few times before, but he gets really scary when he does. It's like he's bipolar."

"Yeah," I agreed. Then I looked at her. "If Mom asks, can you tell her I went to Aya's house?"

"I'm not your slave!" she snapped. Then she went back to her usual drama queen attitude. With a sigh, I wandered into the kitchen and shuffled through the drawer for a piece of paper and a pen. Upon finding one, I left a note for Mom on the kitchen table, put the pen back, and slid the door shut with my hip. When I got back in my truck I cranked the music up to a just- barable level and drove the uneventful route to Aya's house. I hadn't been to her house before but she had given me an address. Driving along the block I spotted her little silver car in one of the driveways. The house number matched the address.

Her house was a medium- sized house and had plain, white siding and many large windows. I parked behind her car and didn't even make it to the front step when the door opened "You're late!" she snapped mockingly. Taking one look at me, she suddenly grew serious. "What's wrong?"

I blinked. I had thought my face was schooled extremely well. It could have fooled anyone. Anyone but Aya. Nothing could fool Aya. But I gave it a shot anyways. "Nothing's wrong. I'm fine."

She scolwed at me and grabbed my arm, pulling me inside. I was then led forcibly down a sparcely furnised hallway and into her bedroom. She closed the door behind us. "Sorry about the mess," she said, not really sounding sorry at all. Indeed, everything within the lavender- tinted walls suffered from the clutter. Her bed was pushed up against the left wall and covered with a mountain of purple pillows and white sheets, The desk against the far wall was hidden beneath untidy stacks of papers and writing utencils, and one of the drawers of the dresser to the right was hanging open and spilling t- shirts. She pushed me down on the bed and stood above me with her arms crossed. "What's wrong?" she repeated sternly.

Sighing, I flung myself back to lay down crossways on her bed with my feet still dangling over the edge. "It's all my fault. Allison and Tala are mad because of what I said, Tala tried to drowned you, and now Mom and Dad are mad at each other and I'm the one that convinced her to marry him. And then there's Will..." I silently recalled the accusatory looks I'd been given when I went to my classmate's funeral.

Her face softened considerably and she sat down next to me, slinging an arm over my shoulder. "It's not your--."

"Yes it is. If I hadn't screwed up... none of it would have happened. Everyone would be happy." I was surprised to find my eyes stinging with tears. I hadn't cried in a long time.

"You can't go blaming yourself for everything," she said softly. "You aren't responsible for everyone's happiness. Allison and Tala are over- reacting and it's your parents that took the vows. As for me, I'm the one that pushed Tala over the edge. I told him off last night and he got angry and threw me in the pool. It wasn't because of you."

"I'm the reason the confrontation happened," I pointed out.

"Would you rather have not told him off?" I thought a moment and shook my head. "Do you regret moving here?" I had to think more about that one. Then something caught my eye.

I frowned and sat up grabbing one of the pillows. 2 dark, wet spots showed on it. "Okay Dr. Phil. My turn. What's wrong with you?" She blushed and snatched the pillow away from me, pushing it behind her and burying it into the mess. "Why were you crying?"

She blushed a deep red and looked away, refuseing to meet my eyes. "I... I think I have a crush..." She paused again, nearly going purple.

"On who?" Now I was curious. I had never seen Aya react so much to anyone, much less a guy, and I still hadn't found out why she had been crying.

"O- on," she swallowed nervously. "On Tala."

I'll admit it. My jaw dropped. "No way. You have a crush on the guy that threw you in the pool? _Why_?"

She fiddled with the trimming on her skirt. "I never told you what happened before... before he threw me in. He was flirting with me. I looked at him and I knew he was just trying to use me but..." She looked at me and I saw something in her face. Something had changed about her. There was hope and hurt all mixed together in her eyes. "I felt like I belonged there, Casey. Like I belonged with him. It's... hard to understand unless you've felt it. He's probably still angry at me though and I never really stood a chance. And I know you don't like Tala but--."

"How romantic!" I flung my arms out and rolled onto my back so I could look up at her. "So? When's the wedding?"

The blush that had disappeared returned full force. "I'm being serious Casey!"

"So am I." I flashed her a crooked grin. "Go get him, Tiger."

Monday homeroom was extremely tense. With me sitting infront of Tala and Aya sitting behind him I felt isolated. Tala didn't seem particularly fond of the arrangement either. The black eye Queen had given him was turning a disgusting shade of yellow but he had had the decency to cover it up with foundation. It was quite funny to watch him fume. It seemed like he was trying to glare at me, Queen, and through the back of his skull at Aya all at once.

Kai was also glaring, though at a different person and for a different reason. Apparently, the tention Tala was emitting was disturbing his laid- back aura and getting on his nerves. Even the thicker fangirls could sense it and knew enough to not say a word to him throughout the rest of the day. Only the ignorant, Kai, and Spencer dared to walk on the same side of the hallway as him or voluntarily sit next to him in class and the teachers decreased the amount of homework given out. In other words: everyone stayed as far away as possible and kept their mouths shut when ever he was within earshot.

Needless to say, it was a very dreary morning. He disappeared around lunchtime after shoveling a bit of food down his throat. When he returned in time for 3rd period he looked a bit sweaty but much calmer, meaning Kai returned to usual, socially- challenged self as well.

With a sigh, I threw my bag in my Ranger and groaned when I realized that I had forgotten my math textbook. "I'll be right back Aya. I need to go grab something from my locker." She nodded in understanding and waited by the passenger side door. She needed a ride home since her car had lost the muffler in the driveway this morning. That must be the greatest thing to wake up to, huh? Anyways, I rushed towards the building, not wanting to keep Aya waiting.

_**Aya's POV:**_

I waited silently for Casey's return, just listening to the wind rushing through the trees. It was really calming you know. That is until a shout of pain ripped through the air, scattering the birds in the branches over head.

I jumped and whipped around in search of it's source. At the far end of the parking lot I saw 6 people, fists and other hard objects flying. I moved stealthily down towards the fight, catching a glimpse of a familiar head of red hair. _Tala! And isn't that Kai? I don't recognize the other 4. Who are they and why are they attacking Tala and Kai? _I frowned, remembering a few rumors I'd heard a year ago about them being in a gang. It was right before Bryan moved.

Tala was wielding a crowbar from the trunk of Kai's car and one of the 4 boys I didn't recognize was scuttling away on his back holding his stomach in agony. I grimaced._ That must have hurt. _One more was thrown from the group by a hard right hook from Kai. The crowbar rolled nosily over the pavement and Tala stumbled backward out of the brawl with a curse.

He was about to jump back in to assist Kai when I saw the gleam of afternoon sunlight on metal. Locating it I tensed in alarm and realized that it was pointed a Tala. 'It' being barrel of a cheap handgun.

"TALA!" I shouted. He turned in time to be tackled to the ground between 2 cars. The sound of the shot was deafening and I swear I felt it whistle over my shoulder. We hit the ground hard and I was glad I was on top. No time to be embarrassed, I rolled off of him and pulled him towards a spot out of reach of the gun. Bright orange hair greetd me. "Brooklyn? What are you doing here?"

"Trying to get in my car without getting hit by a crowbar, baseball bat, or shot," he replied. I let go of Tala and moved past Brooklyn to peek around the bumper of the silver car. The gun had followed our progress and when he spotted movement he pointed it at me. I was frozen there, looking down the barrel of the gun, and I just knew he was going to shoot me.

Then Casey appeared. She was wielding the fallen crowbar and brought it down on his wrist. There was a scream of pain and she backed away slowly, holding the bar before her defensively. "Tala, go!" I hissed. "He lost his gun."

Tala nodded and sprinted off to help Kai, who was fading fast, weaponless, in his 2 against 1 fight. Brooklyn looked over the hood of his car. Did he seem tense? "Brooklyn, what is it?" I demanded. He had always been a pretty hard one to read but I could sense a sudden panic.

"The death card," he whispered, more to himself than anyone else. "Casey. I read her tarot and--."

"She got the death card?" He nodded silently then sucked in a sharp breath. The 2nd unfamiliar boy that had stumbled out of he fight was armed with a baseball bat and quickly rid Casey of the crowbar. I watched as a left hook threw her out of sight around the counter. "CASEY!"

Brooklyn was there first. He plunged around the corner, throwing a right hook of his own. Both boys drew knives and the first boy (the one with the now- broken wrist) hit Casey in the neck with the handle, connecting with a pressure point, effectively knocking her unconscious. The second boy dove, slashing Brooklyn across the arm. It was a deep cut, oozing blood between his fingers. Brooklyn fell and the boy stepped closer, so I did the only other thing I could do. I grabbed the crowbar and jumped between them. He smirked, grabbing the end of the bar. He twisted it out of my shaking hands easily.

No defense. No help. No chance.


	5. Guns and Knives

Hey everyone! I'm **_so_** sorry it took so long to update. I've been pretty busy lately. I'm becoming the kind of author I can't stand! The kind that takes forever to update. Anyhoo...

Special thanks to TK!

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**_Chapter 5: Guns and Knives_**

_**Still Aya's POV**_

_Crap! What now? There's no way I can stand up, weaponless, to a guy with a knife and a baseball bat. _He quickly grabbed my forearm in a painfully tight grip and gently pressed the point of his knife against my stomach, the bat discarded a few feet away and well out of reach.

"You shouldn't have gotten involved girly. Now you _and _your 2 friends are going to be in a world of hurt," he hissed.

"Then you'll be dead." We both turned to see Brooklyn holding the temporarily forgotten handgun. It was pointed directly at the boy's face. I saw him pale and the grip on his knife tightened. "If you hurt her..." the orange-haired boy growled, "I'll kill you."

"You don't know how to use that gun." His voice was smooth but there was a thick cloud of fear behind it.

Brooklyn switched off the safety. "Are you willing to bet your life on that?" I'd never seen Brooklyn so serious. It was frightening but I was glad it was a friend with his finger on the trigger and _I _wasn't the one looking down the barrel. "Leave. Now." The boy scowled but returned his knife to his pocket and ran in the direction of a car parked a few blocks away. His friend with the broken wrist followed.

I breathed a sigh of relief when Brooklyn unloaded the gun one-handed and threw it down a nearby storm drain. I couldn't help but ask as I pulled him to his feet by his good arm. "Would you... really have shot him?"

He grunted in pain. "Shot? Yes. Killed? ...No."

He gripped the gash on his arm and went over to kneel beside Casey, who was still unconscious. Right around then, Tala and Kai came around the corner. They had stopped to look around the brick wall; having known full well what could have happened if they hadn't. "You guys okay?" Tala demanded. He looked me over quick for injuries as if expecting me to lie to him. I was shaking but unscathed. He then inspected Brooklyn's injury with an experienced eye. Kai was inspecting Casey's injuries as well. I, however, was taking notice of the numerous cuts and bruises that dotted their own skin.

"Are _you_ guys okay?" I demanded.

"Yeah, yeah. We're fine," he told me distractedly as he pulled Brooklyn's sleeve to get a better look at the boy's wound. Without a word, Kai gathered Casey up bridal style and looked pointedly at Tala who gave him a brief glance before gently pushing Brooklyn's sleeve down again. "My house or yours?"

"Mine's closer."

"Right. Okay Brook, up we go." Said boy cringed at the nickname but allowed himself to be pulled to his feet once again and steered in the direction of Kai's black convertible. "Coming Aya?"

I remained where I was and gave him a look of pure confusion. "Coming where?"

"Tsk. To Kai's house to fix these 2 up," he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Shouldn't we go to the hospital or something?" I motioned in the other direction even though it wasn't the direction of the hospital. "I mean, Casey or one of you guys could be seriously injured and Brooklyn needs stitches."

"The hospital doesn't take anything gang-related." I flinched at the venom in his voice.

Brooklyn interrupted. "He's right, Aya. The hospital won't help us now. Besides, Kai's rich. He's probably got some kind of private nurse."

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**_Tala's POV:_**

I was completely silent for the entire uneventful ride to Kai's. I kept thinking about it. _"The hospital doesn't take anything gang-related." _It was true. The night that Bryan was shot we tried taking him into the hospital but they refused to allow him in the ER because he was in a gang. They said something along the lines of: 'If we take him, we'll have to report him to the police,' before they shut the door in our faces. I wanted to pound their faces in but by that time Bryan was going into shock. The speedometer never reached below 100 on our way to Kai's that night and the nurses there were having a difficult time. Nobody slept a wink as we all waited outside the bedroom door and I've yet to find a silence as deep as the one I'd felt that night.

Hours upon hours we sat there with nothing but fear on our minds, incapable of thinking. We couldn't say or do anything but watch the moment over and over again in our heads like a never ending movie that we couldn't turn off. I still can't enter that room. Just seeing the door makes me feel like vomiting. I think there might even be a little blood stain on the carpet next to it. Spencer had flat out refused to let anyone clean up the cut above his eye and had simply let it bleed. He has a scar there now...

I gave my head a quick shake and fixed my eyes on the passing houses. I didn't want to think or feel until this whole thing was cleared up.

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**_Back to Casey's POV:_**

I woke up with a blistering headache in an unfamiliar room Women were rushing about in white aprons with various medical tools hanging from the pockets. I think they were nurses. _Okay, hold up. If they're nurses, then I must be in a hospital. But this doesn't look like a hospital. Why not? Oh! The walls have color on them. Hospitals are always white. So where am I?_ I sat up, making my headache worse. On of the women immediately rushed over and handed me a pill and a glass of water.

"Take this," she urged. "It will help with your headache."

_Great. I was never very good at swallowing pills. _She rushed away without another word. Frowning slightly, I popped the pill in my mouth and choked it down with a gulp of water. I felt like I was going to spit it back up but I didn't-- thankfully. It would've been embarrassing to puke over something like this.

Pill taken, I swung my legs out over the edge of the narrow, high placed bed and peered around the violet-painted walls until I spotted a door. Nobody seemed to be paying attention so I slipped onto the ground and snuck outside. The hallway was sparsely furnished with dark wooden floors and rich red walls, interrupted regularly by doors. The end of the hallway opened up into a comfortable sitting room. 2 couches were placed before 2 long coffee tables and faced a cozy fireplace. Another couch on the other side of the room faced a large TV._ This place must be huge._

Occupying the couches in front of the fireplace were Kai, Tala, Aya, Brooklyn, and a nurse that was stitching the red-head up respectively. "Hey guys." I gave them a tired look and leaned lazily up against the wall.

"Casey!" Aya smiled at me and patted the empty spot beside her. "That was quick."

"I'm too old for naps. By the way, if it's not too much to ask, where exactly are we?"

She giggled a bit. "Welcome to Kai's house."

I did a double-take. "Wait... what? This is his _house?_"

* * *

Okay, I'll tell you a secret. I haven't really been very busy. I totally lost motivation for this chapter after 400 words and I only got this finished because I decided that I needed to crank out another chapter. Of course, _now_ I'm going to be busy because our teachers all decided to throw out projects at the same time. Right now I've got 1 down and 3 to go.

PS. Please check out my Naruto story. I've tried posting it 2 or 3 times now but it won't show up in the category thing. You can access it through my profile. Thank you!


	6. The Final

Okay, I tried to start this at school but it got all confusing with the 2 different internet connections and it kept freezing on me... but anyhoo... Sorry this is taking so long. I'm getting more into my Whistle story. I'll update as quickly as I can crank out a chapter. Thank you for your patience!

_**Chapter 6:**_ _**The Final**_

"Big isn't it?" Aya giggled. I sunk down in the chair beside her.

"Are you kidding me? It's HUGE! You could fit half of my house in this room alone and we've got to be on the third story!" I motioned to one of the large windows.

"Second," Tala corrected.

My eyes widened. "How big is the first floor?"

"Roughly 6 meters high," he answered again in a monotone.

I leaned back against the couch cushions and stared at the ceiling for a moment. "Si-... nevermind. Forget I asked." I tilted my head up again and took in the room a second time. It didn't seem like a house. It was too neat and... fancy. "Not real homey is it? It's got that multi-million dollar company thing going on." Aya sweat-dropped at this.

"So how could we make it more 'homey'?" Kai asked with a barely restrained smirk.

"I don't know... more furniture maybe." The room looked too empty to be a house. "Maybe get rid of the uniforms (I motioned to the nurse stitching Brooklyn up and she smiled gratefully before returning to aforementioned project) and for gosh sakes, a speck of dust here and there wouldn't hurt anything, would it?" It was true. The place was spotless. "Geez... How can you afford something like this anyway?"

Aya, Brooklyn, and the nurse face-faulted and Tala and Kai both let their smirks loose. "Kai's grandfather owns the multi-million dollar company," Tala told me amusedly. I blushed deeply but was saved from further embarrassment as a maid in the typical black-and-white outfit entered.

"Mr. Spencer has arrived," she said with a bow. Said boy rounded the corner behind her and raised an eyebrow when he saw 3 more people than he expected.

"Did I miss something?"

"How do you keep this place so clean though?" Aya asked the young maid, a bit of awe in her voice. "I can't even keep my room clean, let alone a house this big!"

Kai and Tala had left with Spencer about half an hour ago and Brooklyn, Aya, and I were left alone... with nothing to do. So guess what? We started talking to a maid. She was pretty cool, cleaning for money for college. "Well we have a lot of maids here and it's a lot easier to clean when you get paid for it. Besides, I've always liked cleaning, so that stain on the floor over there drives me crazy." She pointed down the hallway I'd come through earlier.

"Stain?"

"Yes. There's this one stain that the master refuses to let us clean up. Some of the older women say it's been there for a year now, but when I ask about it they just tell me not to mention it anymore and then go off without saying a word."

_**"Yume!" **_A voice echoed through the room.

"Sorry. That's Akiko. I have to go." She bowed politely and exited the room.

"What now?" Aya leaned back and put her hands behind her head with a sigh. "We can't just leave. We don't have a car." She looked around and located a nurse with an armful of towels. "Excuse me! Can you tell me where I could find Tala and Kai?"

"Down the hall, to the left, up the stairs, third door on the right. B-but they won't like being disturbed!"

"That's okay, we'll knock." Aya grabbed my hand and pulled me up, leading the way. Brooklyn followed behind us.

"H-hey!" she called after us. Aya kept running. I was stumbling. My balance was failing and I think my legs were turning to jello. Finally, we reached the door. Aya knocked briefly on it as promised and waited impatiently. A grumpy-looking Tala answered the door, an electric guitar slung over his shoulder.

"What?"

Aya smiled sweetly. "Can we get a ride home?" Tala sighed and turned to Kai, not noticing Aya slip past him until it was too late to stop her. She gasped. "Coooooool... This place _rocks_!" The room was fairly big with large amps, a top-of-the-line stereo, and various musical instruments.

"Hey!" Tala snapped. Aya ignored him, running her fingers along the edge of a symbol. Spencer waved a drumstick at her but she had already moved on to the next instrument, a well-cared-for keyboard. "What are you doing?" he demanded as she played the first few notes of a child's lullaby, her fingers dancing easily across the keys. She then went over to the sound board and--after a brief inspection-- moved one switch a smidgeon. "Don't touch that!" She moved over to one of the larger amps while he tried to figure out which switch she had adjusted. "Okay, _stop_!" he growled, grabbing her wrist. "What're you doing?"

"Trying to get a few answers before you kick me out."

"What?"

"Well, you never answer any of my questions, so I thought I'd answer my own." I was surprised. Aya was never this forward. Maybe she really was going after Tala….

"So what song are you guys playing for the talent show?" Brooklyn asked curiously, taking a seat on a lower amp.

Tala gained a stress mark. "The Final, now _get out_!"

"Ooohh, I love that song! Play it for us! Please..." She gave Tala a pout.

He sighed. "If we do will you leave?"

"If you play the song and give us a ride back to school so we can get our cars-- or theirs," she agreed happily sitting on another amp beside me. Tala scowled and took up his place adjusting his bright red electric guitar. Kai held a black bass guitar and Spencer sat at the drums. Aya sang happily and I helped on the chorus. Brooklyn appeared to be listening carefully.

_**toketeshimau ito o mitsume... monji ni dekinai hidari te desu.  
chi o nagasu tabi ni ikitere riyuu... miidasu kotoba ga azayakade**_

_**te no naka ni wa aisuru beki hito sae mo hanabanashiku chitte  
te no naka ni wa ikita imi kisande mo munashiki hana to shiru**_

_**The Final**_

_**hitotsu futasu to fuetsuzuku... naze ni waraenai esa ni naru?**_

_**fukaki goku no kokoro ketsushite modore wa shinai  
ashita o sawarenai jigyakuteki rokasha  
Suicide is the proof of life**_

_**te no naka ni wa aisuru beki hito sae mo hanabanashiku chitte  
te no naka ni wa ikita imi kisande mo munashiki hana to chiru**_

_**So I can't live  
Sou naku shita mono wa umarenai  
ikiteru atashi sae motomerarenai uta  
Let's put an end... The Final**_

_**raisui no tsubomi sakaseyou**_

When the song ended Tala pointed at the door. Aya stood up pouting. "What about our ride?" I stayed on the amp, watching as Brooklyn passed me to go look at the sound-board. He gave them a thorough inspection before adjusting each of the switches carefully. Then he looked around and collected a microphone from the shelves on the other side of the room, plugging it in. He returned to his previous seat and handed me the mic. Aya had just finished arguing with Tala and Kai about our ride and she grabbed my arm before I could grab the microphone. She pulled me to my feet but when my full weight hit my legs my knees just kept bending until they struck the hardwood floor.

"Ouch." Gripping Aya's arm tightly, I tried to stand again but my knee gave out again. This time she righted me.

"What's wrong?" she asked with concern. The guys exchanged looks again.

"Let me guess," Tala interrupted. "The nurse gave you a little blue pill when you woke up." I nodded. "Don't worry about it. It should wear off in another hour or so."

"Another hour? How's she going to drive her truck home?" Aya demanded.

"Well," Tala glared, "you drive her to her house and Brooklyn follows you to give you a ride to your house. Sound good? Okay, then leave already." He turned back to Kai and Spencer, though I think it was more the turning his back on us that he was looking for.

"One problem..." I raised my hand tentatively. "I don't think Brooklyn _or_ Aya can drive a manual."

"You drive a manual?" Kai asked with a raised eyebrow.

I folded my arms and carefully settled back on the amp. "Yeah. Some of us aren't rich. You see me," I pointed to myself. "I came from _rural Iowa_. I lived in a town of 700 people isolated by 8 miles of corn and bean fields, okay. We can't afford the fancy mustang convertibles." Kai snorted in a way that said he could do better than a mustang.

"Besides," Aya added, "our parents are already gonna freak. If she can't even walk into her own house... Well, you get the idea."

"Are your parents really that strict?" (Spencer)

"Okay, wait. I just had sharing time. It's your guys' turn," I growled. Me and my making excuses. They all just smirked at me. "Whatever. But I think Brooklyn wants to try something before we go." Brooklyn shifted uneasily as all eyes shifted to him. Without a word, he quickly shoved the mic into Aya's hand and returned to the soundboard.

"Do the chorus again, would you?" The guys scowled but did as told. Aya and I sang along. The mic echoed our voices to the level of the other instruments and when it was over Brooklyn made minor adjustments to the soundboard. Tala, Kai, and Spencer stared at us, then Brooklyn, then us again. "Again please." This time they did as told without complaint. I must say it sounded awesome. The orange-haired boy adjusted the soundboard one more time. "Okay, last time." We did. "Perfect."

He smiled triumphantly and turned to see 5 pairs of eyes watching him intently. "How'd you do that?" Without another glance at him Tala moved over to inspect the soundboard. "We thought it sounded good before but now it sounds... Well, perfect. And you guys." He rounded on us next. "Well, you're not so bad either." It was more grudgingly than when he'd addressed Brooklyn, making _me_ scowl.

Brooklyn returned to where we were sitting, exchanged glances with us, and watched as Spencer grabbed Tala's arm and pulled him into a whispered conversation. Finally, they turned back to us and Spencer spoke to us. "Do you guys want to help us in the talent show?"

Okay, that was horribly predictable but you know what? ...Don't answer that.


	7. Too Soon

Hello. I'm sorry it's taking a while. If you haven't checked out my profile lately I've been trying to force myself to prepare for soccer in 3.5 weeks. That probably sounds like a really lame excuse to you guys but oh well. So on with the story….

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_**Chapter 7: Too Soon**_

I went to school the next day in a rather good mood. I think that I may have been too quick to dislike Tala. Sure, he's hot-headed and cocky, and yes, he's a bit too much of a control freak, but he's not really all that bad. Well, it's more like he's tolerable. Yeah, we had our arguments but they were mostly playful bickering.

Tala approached me right before history and shoved a CD and a piece of paper in my hands. "Practice on your own," he grunted. "Learn _all_ of the words and we'll get back to you on band practice times." I blinked when he walked away without another word. I had thought we'd made a lot of progress on the 'hating each other' thing last night. _Right, this is school. He has to keep up with his reputation and his reputation says he can't be so easy to forgive someone who insulted him. _I sighed. High school could be a real pain in the butt.

I wasn't on quite as bad terms with Kai and Spencer though. Yeah… they actually nodded acknowledgement to me in the hallway. That's about as far as they'll go with _anybody_ though.

Aya's car still wasn't back from the shop so after school I drove her home. It was fun actually. I figure we got a few strange looks while we were sitting in my truck bed in her driveway singing Dir En Grey. Ah well. It was really fun. Aya's mom came out and listened to us once, clapping when we were finished.

"That was great girls."

"Thanks Mrs. Yamaguchi." She smiled at me.

"Come on Aya. We're going to help your father entertain some of his superiors. Come on." Aya groaned but waved goodbye to me before following her mother into the house.

"See you tomorrow!"

The ride home was—as it always is—uneventful. I just sang the song over and over again, frowning when I forgot some of the words in the 3rd line of the second verse. I still hadn't learned the last verse but I think it was good enough that I had almost gotten the first 2 verses down. When I pulled in the driveway I found a big silver pickup in the way of my parking spot. Frowning, I pulled into the yard. _Who's that?_

I opened the door to see Allison locking lips with a tall brunette on the living room couch. I just raised an eyebrow, kicking off my shoes and waiting for them to notice me. The boy noticed first and pulled away from the kiss with a scowl. "Michael?" Allison turned around, shrieking when she saw me there. "Casey! Go away!"

"Yeah, yeah. Get a room." I made my way up the stairs with a small laugh. Allison glared at my back as I left, probably to return to her previous engagement when I was out of sight. Once within the 4 walls of my room I allowed myself a grin and dove onto my bed. I couldn't tell whether I was excited or nervous. I hated spotlights but being in a band was so cool. Mom always said I was good at singing, but to here it from a group of people who weren't obliged to love you and be nice to you. …That was so much better.

I immediately jumped up again and popped the CD into my stereo. There was a pause and I heard the song come on. It seemed kind of distant and fuzzy but I listened to it anyway. The second time around I sang along, quietly at first and then in increasing volume.

"CASEY!" I jumped as Allison barged into my room, not bothering to knock. She stormed over to my CD player and pressed—well more like slammed—the stop button. "Do you mind? You've been playing the same song for the last _half hour_! What's your problem?"

"I'm practicing," I growled at her. Honestly, we had gotten rid of the 'new roomy' kind of attitude after the first day of school and slipped immediately into the 'annoying sister/ sibling rivalry' stage. It was record time I think. I've never grown to dislike someone so much so fast. (Except Tala, but he's okay now.)

"Practicing? For what?"

"The talent show."

She blinked. "You know about the talent show already?" She ran over to stand in my personal bubble, face right next to mine. "When is it?"

"I don't know. Aya said it'd be in about 2 weeks because it's always around the end of the month."

She sighed. "I already _know_ that. I thought you'd know the actual day, or maybe even the time. I think I might write a song and tell Tala, Kai, and Spencer to play it. They've got the most amazing band ever! …But good luck!" She gave a fake smile and practically skipped out of the room.

"Good luck? Yeah right. You really mean: I hope you screw up so bad that you convince your mom to get a divorce and move back to Iowa." I stuck my tongue out at the ceiling. "Yeah, well guess what? I'm part of that 'most amazing band ever' and they _won't_ sing your stupid song."

Just then I heard a crash and the sound of breaking glass. Jumping horribly, I ran out my door and down the stairs. Takeshi stood just inside the door and it looked like he was trying to piece the vase he'd knocked over back together.

"Takeshi!" He looked up at his name and I growled angrily. "Your drunk again!"

He stood up taller but nearly keeled over so he spread his feet out and grabbed the couch for support, shaking the index finger of his free hand at me. "I am naw' drunk… I'm tispy. There's a dif'rence." He worked his way along the couch and into the bedroom, arms spread wide to catch himself against the wall.

A few seconds later a shriek echoed from the room. _"Your drunk, Takeshi!"_ I grimaced. Mom had lungs.

"Not drunk, tispy—I mean tipsy."

"Takeshi, you promised me!"

He got a guilty look on his face and his voice took on a pleading tone. "Maddie…. I-I didn't mean to. I'm not drunk."

She rounded on him. _"Don't lie to me!"_ And with that, she stormed out of the house. The sound of the garage door opening and a car starting could be heard soon after. _Mom…._

Takeshi looked like he was going to cry. I carefully made my way over to him, watching carefully for a repeat of last time. He looked at me for a long moment and then burst into tears. "It's all my fault Casey! Now I'm gonna loose Maddie like I lost Tara."

I frowned and let him lean down to hug me and sob over my shoulder. _Tara__? Who's Tara? _I thought I remember someone saying that name. It might have been Allison. Then it hit me. " Tara was you're wife before my mom wasn't she?"

He continued to cry but spoke through it. "She said that she hated me, that she never wanted to see me again. I-I think I still love her."

_That must be why he drinks. It's because of the way him ex-wife divorced him. He's still not over it yet. _"It's okay Takeshi. It's okay," I crooned. Comforting people was always something I was willing to do, especially when they're like this. "Now you have to choose." He didn't understand what I was talking about. "Now you have to decide whether you love my mom or Tara more. Each one of them comes with sacrifice. Mom wants you to stop drinking and to chase after Tara you'll have to give up Mom."

"I don't know who to choose!"

"Don't choose right now. How about you take a nice long nap," _…and sober up, _"and decide in the morning, okay?" I led him into the bedroom and made sure he was comfortable before shutting off the light and quietly closing the door. I leaned against the wall and slid down to sit on the hard wooden floors. _Why now? I had just gotten all excited and then this. _I sighed heavily. _I just hope you make the right choice, _I thought, watching the closed bedroom door as if it held all the answers. I wish it did.

* * *

The next day, when I picked up Aya she still looked giddy.

"I hate to burst your bubble and everything but Tala, Kai, and Spencer still haven't acknowledged our existence in school," I told her. I mean, she still had a crush on Tala so getting to be with him in this talent show was probably a dream come true for her. That was another thing. At my old school talent shows were… pretty much ignored. Here it was practically the highlight of the first month of school.

"I know that. Who cares? Getting to work with Tala is practically a dream come true!" _Told you. _"And not only that, he thinks I'm good at something!" _Hey, quit reading my mind! _I just smiled and let her talk. I think, since we met each other, we'd both opened up a bit more. Well, to one another.

It wasn't until 4th period right before lunch that anything else really happened. I was sitting in biology, packing my things back into my bag and not really listening to the afternoon announcements when suddenly half the room jumped up.

Everyone was screaming things like:

"No way!"

"I can't be ready by Saturday!"

"They can't do that!"

And so on…. I leaned over to a blue-eyed blonde in the chair to my right. I think his name was Max. "What's happening Saturday?"

He turned to me with a frown replacing his normal grin. "The Talent Show." My eyes widened. "Everyone thought they'd get more time to prepare than this. And since it's already Wednesday they only have 3 more days to prepare something."

The bell interrupted our conversation as everyone rushed to lunch. I sat to Aya's left at our usual table while Brooklyn sat to her right. They were in a heated—but whispered—conversation.

"Do you think we'll be ready by Saturday?" (Aya)

"Not ready enough to beat Ming-Ming. We'll have to pack a lot of practice into the next 3 days to really get it down. Tala still misses a note in the 3rd verse, Spencer adds another beat in the chorus, and Casey hasn't learned all of the lyrics yet." Brooklyn hissed back. Only he could notice these things.

"Who's Ming-Ming?" I interrupted. They jumped violently.

Aya recovered quickly. "She's a freshman that writes and performs her own music. Everyone really likes her for some reason." I frowned. This could be a problem.

"…Do you?"

She looked undecisive. "It's okay I guess. I've heard better though." I listened to their discussion and ate my lunch. Or I tried. I hadn't gotten more than a few bites when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see Spencer behind me. He nodded in the direction of the hall.

"Hey Tyson," Said blunette looked up at his name. "Do you want the rest of my lunch?"

"Well, if you insist." He snatched it away with an inhuman speed and began to devour it like it was his last meal. Meanwhile: Aya, Brooklyn, and I followed Spencer to where Kai and Tala stood, leaning against the wall.

"So are we gonna do this or not?" Tala demanded.

Brooklyn shrugged. "I don't see why not. But if we do we'll need a lot more practice and we have to sign up by Friday."

Tala nodded then turned to me. "In the office is the sign-up sheet. Go put our names on the list." I nodded and headed to aforementioned room. A small girl about my height with long blue hair was writing her name on the list already so I waited patiently for her to be finished.

She turned to me smiling. She was really pretty but spoke in a voice that was an octave higher than any normal human. "Here you go." She handed me the pen and headed out of the office, practically glowing with innocence.

"Huh." I turned my attention to the list. Only one name had made it there yet. There in neat handwriting read: _Ming-Ming _talent: _singing._ I quickly wrote down the band and laid the pen next to the clipboard. _So that's Ming-Ming. Well, this is going to be interesting at the least. _When I finally made my way back to the group it looked like they had all just had an argument, one that had happened while I was gone. "What's up?"

"Practice at Kai's after school," Tala grunted. With that the group disbanded.

"Okay…."


	8. Making Choices

Umm… hi. Yeah, I'm sorry about my updating so I'm going to try to get in a second chapter really quick. But who knows what all's going to happen. We're under blizzard watch here so I might lose power… again. But enjoy the chapter! PS: Pairings will become apparent in later chapters.

* * *

**_Chapter 7: Making Choices_**

"Here." Brooklyn pushed a microphone into my hands. "This way you and Aya can sing together and still be free to move around."

"Move around?" I raised an eyebrow. _He had better not try to get me to dance._

"Yeah. I mean you at least have to walk back and forth across the stage. If you just stand there it'll look boring." I sighed with relief. No dancing. That was good. "Sing the first line of the chorus and we'll get it set up." I obeyed for the next 5 minutes until Brooklyn was relatively satisfied with it and turned to the other band members. "Okay, take it from the top!"

Brooklyn was beginning to sound more and more like a manager, getting on us if we screwed up, offering advice, and always making sure the equipment was in good shape. Our music was getting better by the second and we all still remained on good terms. Yeah, Brooklyn could be harsh but we all knew he was just trying to help. I think he gained a lot of respect from the 3 boys.

Aya and I were improving synchronization rapidly, both of us trying to prove to everyone—for reasons I'm not quite sure about—that we could sing. Finally, it was time to say goodbye. It was getting late and our parents would be expecting us home soon. "Bye guys. See you tomorrow!" I waved on my way out the door.

"Practice tomorrow after school!" Brooklyn reminded.

"'Kay!" Things at home were getting better. Mom and Takeshi seemed to have made up again. I couldn't help but smile slightly. _Good choice Takeshi. Good choice. _I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bowl and some cereal. The family had already eaten so I was on my own. While sitting at the table I noticed Allison come in. The moment she saw me a big smirk painted its way across her face. I frowned. "What?"

"Oh nothing!" she sang, grabbing a can of soda from the fridge and waltzing out of the room. _What the hell?

* * *

_

I found out the next day what Allison had been so smug about. Mariam, Salima, and Queen approached Aya and I during Homeroom. Guess how we were greeted?

"**_What the hell were you thinking?!"_** Mariam demanded. **_"You signed up for the talent show with those 3 assholes_**!" I winced. It was almost like being slapped. She didn't even give us time to respond. "What's happened to you 2? First you go off with Spencer and don't say anything and then you sign up for the talent show with them! I thought you hated those guys!" She rounded on Aya first. "They pushed you into the pool when you couldn't swim, hit you in the back of the head with a baseball during PE last year, and have—in general—made your life a living hell since _3rd grade!"_ She rounded on me next. "And _you_, who came to us because you said they were jerks! What are you _thinking_?" She quickly smacked us both alongside the head but seemed to have gotten it all out of her system.

"Mariam, you're acting like we're going to abandon you or something." I let Aya talk. She knew Mariam better than I did. "We aren't going to become their fangirls or anything. We're just helping them with the talent show! What's wrong with that?"

"Listen to yourself! You want to help them? They're like… the enemy! I thought you guys hated them." Mariam made several large hand gestures to emphasis her point before putting them on her hips awaiting an answer.

"I never said I hated them!" Aya defended.

It was, apparently the wrong thing to say. Mariam gasped and stormed over to the other side of the room. Queen glared at us, sighed at the navy-haired girl's antics, and followed her friend. Salima was left. She didn't say anything, most likely because Mariam had covered it all, but her expression was far from comforting. "It looks like you 2 have a choice to make." Then she too left.

Aya was staring at them, almost hurt. They just didn't understand. If they knew Aya had a crush on Tala they'd know why she wanted to help, but they wouldn't understand how it happened. As far as they knew, we were betraying them.

I pulled my left knee up to my chest and hugged it, letting my foot rest on the hard plastic chair. _Choose? How am I supposed to do that? We were doing so well with the band but after the talent show on Saturday Tala, Kai, and Spencer will just ditch us. I can't give up after all the hard work… but how can I give up on the people that helped me get started?_

If I thought that was harsh, lunch would be a face shot. I hadn't figured out how serious they really were about this until Aya and I had gotten our trays. We planned on sitting where we always did but found our chairs unavailable. Upon seeing our approach, our seats were propelled halfway across the lunchroom to tip over with a loud crash. The room fell silent and we found ourselves the target of many glares. For a long while we just stood there until Aya's tray slipped out of her hands. It landed even louder than the chairs had. I saw her trembling horribly and in the blink of an eye she fled.

"Aya!" I dropped my tray hurriedly on the table and ran off in pursuit. She kept running out the door before finally collapsing near the parking lot, head buried in her arms on the seat of a stone bench. "Aya…" I couldn't speak above a whisper and slowly wrapped her in a hug from behind, leaning my head on her back and feeling her shaking and sobbing. "It's okay," I told her. "It's okay." But it wasn't….

* * *

Arriving home, I saw that Michael was here again. Allison sat on the couch next to him, smirking again. "How was your day sis?" 

Then it hit me. "You told them didn't you? You're the one that told them and made it sound so bad. This is all _your_ fault!"

Her smirk deepened and she stood up from the couch. "What ever are you talking about?"

I must admit, after all the times I've been able to keep a cool head under stress, I snapped. I stormed over and gave her a hard shove back into the couch cushion. "Why don't you stick to doing your hair and making out with your boyfriend and keep your nose _out of my business_?" Snarling I stomped up the stairs and slammed my bedroom door shut. _Damn. I've gotta work on keeping a level head. That's the second outburst and I haven't even been here for 2 weeks. Teenage hormones suck._

_

* * *

_

Sorry if it's a bit short but if I don't end it now it's not going to fit with the title. The next chapter will be longer, I promise!


	9. Shopping and Cheating

3rd quick chapter up! I'm so proud of myself!

* * *

_**Chapter 9: Shopping and Cheating**_

It was around noon when I heard the doorbell ring. Allison jumped up from the couch to answer it. There was a long pause followed by: "Casey!"

Frowning, I made my way down stairs. _Who is that? Aya would've called. _Turns out it was Tala. Allison was leaning on his chest and smiling flirtingly. I raised an eyebrow. "Can I help you?"

"Tala-kun," Allison cooed somewhat poutingly. "She isn't going to ride with you, right?"

He smiled in that seductive way of his and I began to understand why Aya had a crush on him. I didn't but that player could probably charm the socks off of most anyone. "Of course not. She can ride with Kai." He threw me a helmet. Confused I peeked out of the window to see 4 bikes. One was empty and the other 3 were claimed by Kai, Spencer, and Brooklyn. Kai's and the empty bike were the only ones capable of holding 2 people.

"What's with the motorcycles?"

He frowned at me. "Aya didn't--." Realization dawned on him. "Nevermind. Just go get on the bike." I frowned and looked down at the helmet. _'Looks like you two have a choice to make.' Now I really do have to choose. I can't just… I can't just give up on my friends. They're all I have. _Then I remembered what happened the day before. _But if they're willing to give up on us then maybe…. _"Casey?"

I snapped back to reality, realizing that I was gripping the helmet tightly and staring off into space. "Okay. Mom! I'm going somewhere!"

There was a muffled reply. "Where?"

"Don't know!"

"With who?"

"The band!"

"For how long?"

"Not sure!"

"Call when you get the chance!"

"Okay!" I then pushed past Tala and Allison. I quickly jammed the helmet on my head and walked up to Kai's bike. He moved forward a smidgeon to indicate that I should get on. I swung my left leg over the seat like a horse and slid in behind him. He was decidedly tense. I looked back at the house long enough to see Tala give Allison a quick peck on the lips. "Are they an item?" Kai grunted. It sounded like an affirmative to me. "Since when?"

"Sunday," he muttered. I frowned and watched as Tala made his way down the sidewalk to his bike. _But wasn't Michael here yesterday, and Tuesday, now that I think about it? Is she cheating on him? _I refrained from groaning and grabbed the back of Kai's shirt as we rode off.

We stopped at Aya's house next and Tala was about to go get her but I stopped him. "Let me." He gave me a strange look but handed me the spare helmet anyways. I rang her doorbell and waited. The door flew open and Aya grabbed the front of my shirt, yanking me inside. "Aya? You seem… stressed."

She was indeed pacing back and forth, running her hands through her hair. "How could you just choose like that? I mean, it isn't that simple. You can't just give up on our friends like that!"

"_Our friends_?" She turned to me and gave me a shocked look. "Aya, I know that all of you have been friends since elementary but I haven't. I get along better with them than every other group in the school but if they're going to just give up on me like that I think I can wait a month or so until they get over it. If we sing with the band at the talent show they're just going to trash us afterward but I _owe_ myself this! All my life I've been afraid to get involved in things but I'm sick of it. I need to get out of my comfort zone and challenge myself and if that means I have to sit in the middle of the lunchroom by myself for a while I'm willing to do that."

"They'll never forgive us," she whispered.

I moved over and slung my arm around her shoulder. "I know it's hard for you but it isn't for me. If they aren't willing to accept that I don't judge on rumors, I'm not going to be able to stay friends with them much longer anyways. They'll have to cut me some slack. But I know how much you don't want to lose them. This is my choice, Aya. What's yours?"

She slid down the wall, burying her face in her knees. "I-I don't know what to choose." I sat down next to her. This was a choice she'd have to make on her own, like it or not. After a very long pause she sat up and wiped away the tearstains on her face. "Okay. Let's go."

I frowned, feeling like I had talked her into it. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Those people yesterday… they weren't my friends." Quickly slipping on some shoes, she took the helmet from me and headed outside. The boys, growing impatient waiting for us, had their bikes off and leaned casually against the seats.

"Took you long enough," Tala growled.

Aya placed her hand on the back of his helmet and pushed it forward. "Just shut up and drive." If I had to guess the red-head's thoughts, they'd probably be along the lines of: _It must be 'that time of the month.'_

The ride there was incredible. Once we got out on the highway I started getting comfortable with the bike—comfortable enough to let go of Kai and spread my arms out wide. It felt like I was flying. My truck had nothing on this. I looked back at Aya to find her clinging to Tala like her lifeline with her eyes squeezed shut behind the visor.

"Hang on," Kai warned. It almost came too little too late. We took a sharp turn onto an exit ramp and if I hadn't been quick to grab Kai's waist again I would've done some _real_ flying. I think he was smirking at me. I scowled.

* * *

Finally, we stopped the a large parking lot in front of an even larger building. "Where are we?"

"The mall," Kai grunted as if it was obvious.

"The mall? O-oh. So _that's_ why he wouldn't tell me where we were going." We managed to fit all 4 bikes into 2 parking spaces and clambered off. "Okay. Who's idea was this?" Aya raised a guilty hand. _"You!"_ I chased her half-heartedly around the group until Kai grabbed one of my arms.

"Quit screwing around already and let's get this over with." I sighed. _Party pooper. _Anyways, Aya practically dragged me from one store to another.

"Remind me why we're shopping again."

She grinned at me. "We discussed it while you were signing us up for the talent show. It would look terrible if we all showed up with different styles. I mean, think about it. If you showed up in nice slacks and Spencer showed up in jeans we would look totally uncoordinated." And so it went. When she finally found a store she liked she stopped. The guys were a good 20 meters behind us, not having bothered to run after us. When they caught up Aya rounded on them. "So what look are we going for?"

They exchanged glances before Tala responded. "Emo."

"Can do! Now you go over there in the guys' section and I'll see if I can get Casey into anything. When you've picked something out, come show it to me so I'll know that it all works together." Without waiting for a response, she pushed me off in the direction of the girl's clothing. "Come on, just try it on!"

"No! I told you I will _not_ wear a skirt—much less one like _that_."

Aya held up the denim mini-skirt. "Why not?"

"I wear _conservative_ clothing. I'm a tomboy. I don't _do_ skirts." She sighed defeatedly and threw a pair of destroyed jeans my way. It took a few tries before we finally got the right size. She then got me into a black, long-sleeved shirt and a sleeveless denim jacket. The boys approached soon after while Aya was running around getting stuff to try on. She gave everyone a once-over and returned a few of the things she'd picked out, saying they were 'too flashy.'

All of the boys wore destroyed jeans too of varying shades (mostly darker than mine). Kai wore a black shirt that looked like the sleeves had been forcibly removed and some red wristbands, Tala wore a Dir En Grey band t-shirt with a choker, and Spencer had on a black sweatshirt with a large white skull on the front.

"Tell her this shirt's too small," I ordered, pulling irritably on said piece of clothing.

"What's with you and baggy?" Tala demanded. "You and Allison are complete opposites. It's fine. Normal girls wear that stuff all the time." I had ignored him after he said 'Allison' though. I would have to tell him sometime, but maybe I should check with her first. What if I had jumped to conclusions? Okay, I knew I hadn't but it seemed wrong to just rat on her like that. "Casey? Casey!"

"Huh?" I was snapped out of my thoughts again when Tala waved a hand in front of my face.

"What's with you? You've been spacing a lot today."

"Oh, sorry." Aya jumped out of the changing room right then in a denim skirt that reached her mid-thigh and a black tank-top with a pink t-shirt underneath. She gave everyone another once-over and told them it was alright to change back into their regular clothes. Kai (the richest one of us) picked up the bill. "Can we go home now?"

She looked like she was considering it and then grinned. "My home!" _Oh no. What now? _

As we went out into the parking lot I decided I couldn't put it off any longer. "Hey guys, can you give me a minute?" I handed Aya my bag and walked around the corner of the building. Once out of sight I pulled out my cell phone and search my list of numbers for Allison's cell. She always had it on and I only wanted to talk to one person.

It rang for a minute before she answered it. "Hello?" Wait a minute. That was most definitely _not_ Allison. "Hello?"

"Hey, who's this?"

"Michael. Who's this?" I bit my lip. _She invited him over after Tala was there? Is she that stupid? _

"This is Casey. Can I talk to Allison?"

"Yeah, sure. Hold on." There was a shuffling noise in the background before Allison's voice came on the other line.

"Hello?"

"So which one are you cheating on?"

"Just a sec." There was more shuffling in the background and I heard her whisper an 'I'll be right back.' I heard footsteps on the wooden floor of what was probably the living room, the opening and shutting of a door, and a bit more shuffling before Allison came back on the line. "Why do you care?" she snarled.

"Payback, sis. Payback. You know, I could easily tell Tala that you're seeing Michael."

"Like he'd believe you!" she hissed. _Perfect. She's keeping her voice down. She still doesn't want Michael or Tala to find out. But I don't really understand it. If she was trying to keep it a secret, why'd she make it so obvious? _

"Wouldn't he?"

She sighed, creating a loud roaring on my side of the phone. "What do you want?"

I responded without a second thought. "Stop seeing Michael."

"No!"

"Then stop seeing Tala!"

"Hell no!"

"Then I'll tell Tala. I bet then it'll be him that will stop seeing you."

"Why are you doing this?"

"I already answered that. Now what are you going to choose?"

There was a pause. "You know what? Tell him. Tala will just beat Michael up and love me even more. That is, assuming he believes you." And with that, she hung up on me.

I sighed. "I didn't want to have to do this, but if you insist." I set off for the gang, or more specifically, everyone's favorite red-head.


	10. Yin and Yang

Yay! Another chapter! I must admit, though, I'm a bit disappointed with the reviews. Some readers are wonderful about this but I don't feel like I'm getting quite enough. If this persists, I may have to set a limit on the amount of reviews before I update. Yay for excuses! Anyhoo... enjoy!

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**_Chapter 10: Yin and Yang_**

Brooklyn was trying to figure out how to secure our packages on the bikes (since he was not going to be on stage, he didn't need an outfit) and Tala was leaning impatiently on his bike with his arms folded. "Call and break up with your girlfriend!" I snapped. I was about to offer him my cell phone but thought better of it and stuffed it irritably in my pocket. He probably had his own phone.

The red-head threw a confused and astonished look at my back as I snatched the helmet off of the handle of Kai's bike. After he got himself semi-composed he asked, "Which one?" I stiffened. I had _not_ seen this coming. I had unknowingly created a world of black and white where this was concerned and it was not panning out like it was supposed to. There was supposed to be yin and yang, good and bad, right and wrong. Suddenly things had been thrown out of whack and I, admittedly, was unsure of what to do. The clatter of the helmet on cement seemed distant and I stared uncertainly at my hands, still held out to support air.

"Casey?" The voice was reluctant and tinged with worry. It was Aya. "Casey, what's wrong?"

Anger welled up in me. Anger and indecision. I felt like I was going to explode. But I couldn't do that here. Not now. So I did the only thing I could think of. I bolted. Weaving in and out of the cars at full speed, working my muscles harder, and—in general—exerting myself felt good. I just poured my anger out carefully dodging traffic, parked cars, and pedestrians. Finally, I found myself faced with a chain-link fence halfway along the side of the building, blocking off the loading docks.

I skidded to a stop and rounded on the brick wall to my left. "Why am I getting so worked _up_?" I screamed to no one other than myself, emphasizing 'up' by punching the wall and immediately regretting it. Pain shot unmercifully up my arm and upon closer inspection I discovered several missing layers of skin on my knuckles. I hissed and angrily kicked over a nearby trash can, spilling recyclable bottles across the pavement.

I took a few deep breaths, slid down the wall, and put my face in my hands. "What is wrong with me?" I sat there a moment longer before standing up and righting the trash can, gathering the bottles, and tossing them carelessly inside.

The roar of a motorcycle engine reached my ears but I ignored it. It was probably just Tala demanding to know why I'd run off or Brooklyn or Aya trying to convince me to leave before anything_ else_ happened to set me off. _What's going on? This is so unlike me. It's just stupid high school drama. I promised myself I wouldn't get wrapped up in this kind of thing._ With a sigh, I threw the last bottle in the can and set the lid on top—slightly askew since it wouldn't fit properly.

"You don't have to like either of them, you know." I jumped violently. That wasn't Tala, Brooklyn, or Aya and it wasn't a persuasive or demanding voice. I turned to see Kai, arms folded as usual and face masked of any and all emotions. "There's not always a good-guy. Tala's not a saint."

I scowled and didn't answer, reaching to take the spare helmet off of the handle once again.

There was a grunt and Kai grabbed my arm, squeezing slightly. "If you don't get over it now, it's just going to get drug out and you won't perform well tonight." I was slightly stunned. I'd never seen or heard of him getting worked up with someone else in mind.

The moment passed quickly enough. "So those 2 idiots are cheating on each other! That's not my problem!"

"But you're acting like it is!" I was about to shout something back when it came back to me. _"You're not responsible for everyone else's happiness…" _I growled and turned away from his gaze. His grip loosened. "It's not your problem and you can't always fix it. Sometimes you have to let it work it's self out. …Now come on." He handed me the helmet and swung onto his bike, waiting for me to do the same. I smashed the helmet on my head. _He's right. Paybacks are hell. They'll get what they deserve.

* * *

_

Once at Aya's house, she instructed everyone to change into their clothing and hissed a plan in Brooklyn's ear. Said boy grimaced slightly, as if foreseeing pain but nodded. Kai, Spencer, and Tala were pointed toward the bathroom and I was dragged into Aya's room.

"Here." She through the bag at me and rummaged around in her closet, causing several objects to cascade down from their hiding places in the process. By the time she had found whatever it was that she was looking for I was done changing, still picking unhappily at the shirt. "Hold this." She shoved what looked to be a tackle box into my hands and proceeded to change herself.

"What is it?"

"You'll see," she answered evasively. I frowned suspiciously down at it. I didn't like where this was going. "Okay! I'm ready." She rushed over to the door and motioned to Brooklyn who had been waiting outside. He entered the room, looking distastefully around at the mess but quickly averted his gaze to it after meeting my eyes with a cringe. "NOW!"

Suddenly both of them charged and pinned me to the bed. "What the heck, Aya!" Said raven-haired girl ignored me and opened the box full of…. "NOOOOOOOOO!" I began to thrash about, probably over-reacting, but Brooklyn held me relatively still while giving me an apologetic look.

5 minutes later I exited the room fuming to face 3 slightly nervous—but curious—boys that had heard my screaming. I grabbed Tala by the wrist and drug him into Aya's room to suffer the torture I had endured. One by one, they each entered the room, and one by one, faced their ordeals. Spencer, being as big as he was, put up the biggest fight—resulting in a few bumps and bruises.

Finally, the torture came to a close and 4 very unhappy teenagers were sprawled across the Yamaguchi's living room. "Come on," Aya groaned. "It's not _that_ noticeable."

"That doesn't change the fact that it's make-up!" Tala screeched.

"It's just a bit of eyeliner! Besides, Casey had it worse! I put foundation on her and she didn't cry half as much as you!"

"That's because she a girl! She's supposed to do that kind of thing!" Brooklyn was all that was stopping me from taking a good, hard swing at Tala.

"Okay, okay. That's enough!" he grunted. "We have a show to put on. Everybody, back onto the bikes." We reluctantly did as told and rode in silence to the school where a large truck was parked with our equipment on it. Several men were unloading it according to the instructions that Kai had given them. We stole the guitars and a pair of drumsticks and went to practice out behind the school. It was like a private rehersal. We had finally gotten the song down pat and took nervous, deep breaths. We were finally ready. Half an hour and the talent show would be starting. We were to be the closing act. We had to out-perform all of the others. The pressure was starting to get to me.

"Stop worrying!" Aya snapped. "We're not here to win the talent show, we're here to prove to the girls that we don't just jump in without thinking. We're good and you know it. We'll be fine."

I took another deep breath. "I hope so."

The boy's stood up from their respective benches and waited for us to do the same before leading the way inside. For once, I could think about going our separate ways on Monday and get a hint of doubt. I actually felt a connection to them and I was suddenly confident that we _would_ be fine.


	11. Show Time

Hey there! Okay, I'm going to _force myself_ to try and type a new chapter every week. However, I would like to have 3 new reviews (for this or any chapter) before I post! That's right! Regular posting! Aren't you happy? Probably not... Anyhoo, just enjoy the chapter!

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**_Chapter 11: Show Time_**

We nervously entered the school (minus Brooklyn, who was checking that the equipment was satisfactory) and headed to the stage where we were going to wait before performing. Tala and Spencer seemed a bit tense but that was the extent of it and Kai didn't seem nervous at all. I have to admit, I was a bit jealous of the way they stayed so calm. There was a time where I probably would've shown the same reaction as Tala and Spencer but now I was fidgeting restlessly, my heart racing, and my palms sweating. It almost made me afraid of what I'd do if I sat down or stood still.

Rows of chairs were set out in front of the stage so it looked as if the room could hold a few hundred people. That didn't help my nerves at all. Were they really expecting so many people?

I glanced at Aya. She looked about to cry… or puke… or both. And why wouldn't she? She had more than just pride on the line. She had to prove to our entire group of friends—that is, if you could still call them that—that being part of these guys' act wasn't because of some huge crush on them. Okay, so she _did_ have a crush on Tala, but that wasn't the reason we were here.

Somebody must have opened the front doors or something because people suddenly started swarming in, meaning we had to retreat to backstage. The director, if you wanted to call him that, shoved us all in an extremely crowded room with all of the other acts of the night. Tala, Kai, and Spencer immediately went their separate ways to go talk to Johnny, leaving us standing there awkwardly.

"What do we do Aya?"

She shrugged. "I've never actually been _in_ the talent show before. I've gone to see it before and Mariam told me about the time she played guitar once, but that's about it." I smiled proudly. Aya hadn't even flinched or stumbled at the sound of Mariam's name. "She said that they sometimes let you stand just off stage and let you see the other acts if you're quiet, though."

"Tala!" I cringed when I heard Allison's voice above the unavoidable chatter in the room. A familiar head of red hair wandered over to the door somewhat reluctantly.

"You witch!" I strained my ears curiously, though it was hardly necessary. The room immediately fell silent as all eyes turned to the door. Aya was pushing her way through the crowd, leaving me there among a swarm of bodies.

* * *

_**Aya's POV:**_

After working my way to the front of the crowd I saw a cat fight in the doorway. Allison, done up in a cocktail dress, was trading verbal and physical blows with a blonde I recognized from health class last year. Tala was standing by somewhat nervous and yet, at the same time… amused?

Anger bubbled up in me. He'd just used those girls for his own entertainment. I'd been shocked when he implied he had more than one girlfriend but now… he was enjoying it.

"Casey…." I looked back, expecting her to be behind me but I couldn't see her anywhere. "Casey?" I peered through the crowd, which had turned into something like a mosh pit with people jumping up and down to try and see what was going on and since we had already been packed in there like sardines, making room for a cat fight required serious condensing.

Kai and Spencer had likewise pushed their way through the crowd and stood behind Tala waiting for the girls to finally get to—yeah, that. My attention was immediately focused back on the fight. They had just figured out that they were both Tala's girlfriends and had rounded on him.

"Tala how could you?" Allison screamed. "How could you cheat on me like that?"

"Allison?" Suddenly, Michael peeked through the door, obviously attracted by the fight and Allison's voice in it. "You okay?"

Allison's eyes widened in horror as he came over and wrapped an arm around her waist, looking her over for injuries. "Michael, no! Not now!"

He seemed taken aback by this and Tala had turned red-faced. "So _you_ were cheating on _me_?" he demanded. After all, this was his pride on the line now. To have the nerve to say that after what he'd done fed my anger and I felt no sympathy toward him what-so-ever.

I pushed roughly through the crowd in search of Casey. It was their problem now and they could both burn for all I cared.

* * *

_**Back to Casey's POV:**_

I was lucky to still be on my feet. With everyone jumping up to see what was going on and having nowhere to safely land, they landed on their neighbors (ie: me). I was shoved back and forth and was about to fall on my butt when someone grabbed my arm. It was Aya. She righted me. "What's going on?"

"Apparently, Tala was cheating on Allison and vice versa." Suddenly her eyes widened in realization. "But you already knew that."

"Heheh." I scratched the back of my head. "Yeah, but what'd they do?"

"Well Allison and Akiko started fighting, then they yelled at Tala, then Michael came in and Tala started yelling at her, and then I left."

"I see. Can we get out of here now?"

She couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, but you're going to have to be a little mean. Nobody's going to want to move out of your way."

"Right." We then proceeded to push our way through, receiving elbows to the face, back, and stomach as retribution. Finally, we were freed and snuck around the still-in-progress fight.

"Hey! Casey!" I froze in the doorway and turned to see what was left of the group. Aside from a few bumps and bruises on Tala and Michael's side, messy hair on Allison and Akiko's side, and everyone being red-faced from screeching at each other they looked unharmed. "You knew about all of this, didn't you?" I made a face at him, one of disgust, and let Aya pull me away. "Hey! Get back here!"

We were going to go hide in the bathroom but stopped when we heard a voice. "Ming-Ming's singing!" Aya hissed.

We moved closer to the stage and watched a profile of her performance. The small, blue-haired girl was standing in the middle of the stage with her hand stretched skyward and bouncing up and down with the beat that the star-struck freshmen behind her were keeping. She opened her mouth, sucked in a breath, and--. "Ack!" I clapped my hands over my ears. How could anyone—much less a whole room full of people—stand to listen to a note that high?

Oh, but it didn't stop there. The whole song consisted of notes like her voice, an octave higher than any normal human. Aya grinned at me and leaned in to whisper in my ear. I uncovered it a moment because it was Aya (though I wouldn't have, had it been anyone else). "Some visitors from other schools did that too. It's one of those things that has no grey area. You either love it or hate it."

"I noticed." Suddenly someone grabbed my arm and spun me around. A hand would've smacked into my face if I hadn't already had my arms up to block it.

"Why didn't you tell me Tala was cheating on me?" Allison demanded. Rick, a large sophomore with white hair, came up behind her and picked her up by the waist with a sigh before carrying her off the stage, kicking and screaming all the way. Luckily, Ming-Ming had finished her song. What with all the noise we'd been making, it would've been an embarrassing interruption. The small, blue-haired girl distracted the crowd for a moment before exiting stage right (where we were standing).

"What's going on?"

Aya and I exchanged glances briefly before shrugging. "Just a bit of high school drama."

Slowly the acts wound down to just a few. We had to borrow a bit of makeup from one of Tala's ex-girlfriends to cover up a bruise forming on his jaw and watched a few of the acts at the same time. Ray and Garland had a mock-battle on stage, showing off their martial arts; Mariah did some tumbling; Emily played the violin; and Enrique did some kind of ball room dancing with a girl I didn't recognize.

"For our last act of the evening, we have Kai, Tala, Spencer, Casey, and Aya performing 'The Final.' They'll need a moment to set up so please be patient."

The director-man came off the stage and motioned for someone to close the curtains so that some of the men Kai had hired could set up their equipment. Aya and I, not having been trusted with anything watched the audience from behind the curtain. To my horror, Mariam, Queen, and Salima were leaving. They had just stood up and headed for the door. Aya, seeming completely calm, snuck around off stage and went to block the door. I followed her nervously.

She stood there in front of the double doors with her hands on her hips and her legs shoulder-length apart in a sturdy, firm stance while I stood off to the side and watched. Salima stopped uncertainly and Mariam hesitated slightly but Queen kept walking and just slipped around her, waiting for the others to do the same. Several people from the audience had stopped to watch.

Aya didn't move, not even flicking her eyes to the side as the others drew level with her. Then she spoke. "I'm not going to stop you from leaving, but I'm not going to chase after you when you do, either. …Not this time…."

They froze but Aya was already walking off. I followed her again back towards the stage.

Brooklyn met us and tossed us our microphones. "Ready?" he asked, plugging them in.

"Ready." I looked nervously at Aya when she said this. After what had just happened, there was no way she could really be alright. She looked at me and smiled. "I said what needed to be said. Now I'm ready to do what I came here for."

There was a time when I would have laughed at this moment. It's hard to believe that something so small could possibly be that serious. But after you've gone through it with teenage hormones and the whole deal you learn that that small thing is what keeps you going. High school is like hell and if you don't have a flashlight you can't help but get swallowed up.

I received no more time to reflect on this. Everyone had gotten into place and the curtain was moving. I took a deep breath and turned on the microphone. My heart was pounding so loud, I swear the people in the back of the room could hear it. I heard the click of Spencer banging his sticks together, giving the beat. Then Kai and Tala started in heavy. After listening to them play so many times I could almost hear Brooklyn adjusting the soundboard even while they played (A/N I don't know if you can actually do that but they can in this story).

It seemed like an eternity before Spencer jumped in with the drums and Aya started off with the lyrics.

**_toketeshimau ito o mitsume... monji ni dekinai hidari te desu.  
chi o nagasu tabi ni ikitere riyuu... miidasu kotoba ga azayakade_**

I jumped in here. I loved the way Aya and my voices mixed. Gradually, we started moving around the stage and playing off of each other.

_**te no naka ni wa aisuru beki hito sae mo hanabanashiku chitte  
te no naka ni wa ikita imi kisande mo munashiki hana to shiru**_

_**The Final**_

We made Tala do the screaming and the crowd didn't seem to mind at all.

_**hitotsu futasu to fuetsuzuku... naze ni waraenai esa ni naru?**_

_**fukaki goku no kokoro ketsushite modore wa shinai  
ashita o sawarenai jigyakuteki rokasha  
Suicide is the proof of life**_

_**te no naka ni wa aisuru beki hito sae mo hanabanashiku chitte  
te no naka ni wa ikita imi kisande mo munashiki hana to chiru**_

I was made to do the English part. It was, after all, my first language.

_**So I can't live  
Sou naku shita mono wa umarenai  
ikiteru atashi sae motomerarenai uta  
Let's put an end... The Final**_

_**raisui no tsubomi sakaseyou**_

And then it was over. The crowd started cheering and I blushed horribly, panting after taking on the sound of someone else's voice. It wasn't easy you know. Aya and I shut off our microphones and bowed, grinning the entire time. We knew we'd done well. We ran off the stage while the curtains were closing and practically tackled Brooklyn at the soundboard (which we would've accidentally knocked over if Spencer hadn't been there). Tala and Spencer were grinning ear to ear and clasped hands. Even Kai had allowed himself a triumphant smile—small as it may have been.

Aya and I, still celebrating and too excited to sit still went out to stand at the edge of the audience to wait for the final announcement of the winner. But on our way down the set of stairs that led off the stage we were met by 3 familiar figures. For a long moment we stood there, faces betraying nothing, and then they shrieked and pounced on us. Well, not Queen, but she did give us a smile.

"You guys were _amazing_!" Mariam laughed, strangling Aya in a hug. "I still don't like that you hung out with those 3 but now I see why."

"We were so horrible," Salima added. "I'm so sorry!" I patted her back.

"Don't worry about it," I told her. "Just as long as you forgive us for abandoning you for the last few days."

"Done!" Mariam squealed. I'd never heard her squeal before. Well I suppose that's what happens when you're excited.

"So…" We all stopped jumping up and down in excitement long enough to look at Queen. "Are we going to go find out who won or not?" We all exchanged looks, shrieked, and dragged the reluctant-to-be-seen-with-us Queen towards the audience.

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Wow. That was probably the longest chapter I've written so far. Sad isn't it? Oh well. It's kind of touchy feely but, meh. Review please. 3 'til the next chapter is allowed up! 


	12. Withdrawal

I finally got it to work! (throws confetti) I honestly tried to post this chapter Saturday but I couldn't get anything to submit into the documents section. So, I'm very sorry this wasn't up earlier but it really wasn't my fault! Anyhoo, enjoy the chapter!

Thanks to Kai-Hiwatari-Lover, BirdsofPrey9832, Desastrus, TsukiharaKitty, and GoddessPhoenix3173 for reviewing. I was so happy to get 5 reviews instead of just 3! 3 more 'til the next chapter!

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_**Chapter 12: Withdrawal**_

I was almost giddy with excitement. I really didn't know what was going to happen. I mean, just because I didn't like Ming-Ming's music didn't mean the judges wouldn't. Speaking of which… "Hey guys? Who are the judges?"

Miriam answered. "Well the class representatives usually judge unless _they_ want to enter. If they do, someone else is chosen. I think the freshman representative is Kenny—he was working in the computer lab the other day before our class came and kicked him out—the sophomore representative is Tyson, the juniors' rep is Hilary from your 2nd period math, and the seniors' rep is… who was it again? Oh yeah! Miguel!"

"Okay, thanks." I looked uncertainly at Aya. When it was just us she was more open, but now she seemed to be smothered in the background. Mariam was squeezing the poor girl's shoulders hard enough to suffocate her, but that was because it was her moment to shine. When this was all over she'd probably slip back into her former, timid self and I wasn't so sure I was okay with that. In fact, despite my assurances, I wasn't sure I had really forgiven them yet. I mean, how could they just blow off what they had done to us like it was nothing?

"So when exactly did you guys find out about their talent show act?" Salima questioned curiously. I blinked. Were we still not completely trusted either? Now we're under a microscope?

"Heheh…" I brought my hand up to my neck and laughed nervously. "That's a long story."

"Then we'll wait until after they announce the winners!" I was pulled into a huddle (Poor Queen was trapped unwillingly in the middle.) and we all held our breaths as the director-man came out on the stage.

"I want to start off by thanking you all for coming tonight. Everyone that's been on this stage tonight appreciates your support. I'm sure you enjoyed all of the acts but only one can be chosen as the winner. Without further ado," he began to unfold the piece of paper, "the winner of tonight's talent show is…." He paused and squinted at the paper. "Umm… just a moment." He quickly summoned someone from the audience. I saw Hilary hold a whispered conversation with him before they seemed to reach an understanding. He stood up, straitened his shirt, and pulled the microphone up to his mouth again. "Apparently, it was a very difficult decision for the judges to make. They had to choose between 2 great acts and they must have gone back and forth several times because I can hardly read this with all the eraser marks. Unfortunately, they could only choose one. So the winner of tonight's talent show is… MING-MING!"

Several people jumped up and screamed their applause as Ming-Ming came back onto the stage and gave a bow. The 5 of us sighed heavily. We were all disappointed—Aya and I the most—but Salima didn't let us stay that way for long. "Hey, you guys did a great job! Let's all go to my house and have snacks and stuff."

After a few more moments of convincing we all agreed. So 5 minutes later we were piled into the back of Queen's sleek red and black car. Mariam (who had taken shotgun) immediately rounded on us.

"So? Are you going to tell us how you figured out about those guys' talent show act?"

Aya and I exchanged glances and I motioned for her to tell them, jumping in every now and then to add things. Her voice was low and quiet, almost hesitant, and it frustrated me. She was so much more fun to be around when she was talking and joking—when she was confident. Right now, it seemed more like she was clinging to the group and trying not to make anyone upset. She was fading away again.

Finally, our story drew to a close and Mariam immediately commented. That was something I liked about her. She was always forward about things and spoke her mind, but it was also something I didn't like. There are some things that are better left unspoken.

"I would've let the guy shoot him."

"That's horrible!" Salima snapped.

"Well! I don't know why Aya risked her own life for a guy that tried to drown her." Aya opened her mouth to speak but snapped it shut again when Mariam continued. "It's not like I'm going to kill the guy, but I wouldn't take a bullet for him either!"

I directed my attention out the window, peering through the approaching darkness at passing houses. _Let the guy shoot him? He's not** that** bad. Then again, I haven't been around here that long either. Maybe he isn't really as good as I'm been telling myself he is. They probably don't hang out that much either unless they want to pick a fight. It's like a civil war. Each wants to be at the top of the food chain. I wonder how Aya became friends with them. I mean, she doesn't really have a dominant personality like the others do. Maybe she's like their mediator. _

"Casey?" I jumped. "You okay? You seem kind of spacey."

"I'm fine." I mentally shook myself. I'd stop and mull things over when I got home.

Mulling things over didn't get me anywhere. I suppose I could see both sides of my own argument so I decided not to pick a side. I'd just remain neutral. It was all I really could do. That night was a slightly strained little party on my part filled with junk food, loud music, and—eventually—a movie that lasted until about 11:30.

The rest of the week things began to slip back into the norm. The band (Me, Aya, Tala, Kai, and Spencer) went our separate ways and Aya went back to her recessive self. I was just kind of there. I was still the new kid that knew next to nothing about Japan. I also got several questions about what it was like back in Iowa. Nothing very interesting happened until Friday so let's skip up to then, shall we?

* * *

_**With Tala, Kai, and Spencer: **_

They were just leaving school that afternoon when fate and irony decided to be especially cruel. What was supposed to be a pleasant surprise turned out to be something far from it.

"Hey you guys!" The group stopped, exchanged glances and walked backward to the mouth of the small alley between the science lab and the gym. That's where they always hung out after school with….

"BRIAN?!" They all did a double-take when the saw the silver-haired boy, dressed in blue-jeans and a black hoodie, leaning casually against the side of the gym. "What the hell are you doing here?" Tala demanded running up to him. The 3 created a sort of semi-circle around him. "I thought they sent you to Yokohama."

"They did. I decided I'd drive up here and say 'hi.'"

They didn't question it. Brian was a rather sporadic person that did whatever he pleased. "How's your shoulder?" Kai grunted, putting back up the mask he was famous for which had slipped for a moment in his surprise.

Brian shrugged. "It still works." The group frowned. He was shaking terribly, his eyes darted back and forth nervously, he was sweating, and he spoke quickly, as if he was trying to get them to hurry through the small-talk.

"Dude, what's up?" Spencer demanded. He had been the closest to Brian before he left and had, therefore, spotted these things first.

The silver-haired boy checked the alley quickly and did a series of 'I-need-to-tell-you-something-without-actually-_telling_-you' gestures mixed with a bit of bouncing. "You—you moved the _stash_." He hissed. "I need some."

"No." Kai told him. They knew exactly what he was talking about.

"You don't understand. I _need_ it."

"We quit, man," Tala informed him.

He gave a strange, hyena-like laugh. "Seriously guys. I need some."

"We _are_ serious Brian. If we hadn't been high that night, you wouldn't have gotten shot!" There was a definite note of distress in Spencer's voice when he spoke. He hated seeing his friend like this.

"You can't just quit," he scoffed. It was true it was very hard, but it was possible. After all, Tala, Kai, and Spencer had quit.

"Brian, we don't have any."

He seemed to get angry at this and pushed himself uneasily off the wall. "Screw you guys! I thought we'd still have some loyalties!" And with that, he stumbled out of the alley. They watched him slip around the corner and shook their heads. They couldn't do anything for him, not anymore.

* * *

_**Back to Casey's POV (will be following Aya if they separate as well):**_

Aya and I were walking to her car (we'd decided to carpool because it would be cheaper) when an unfamiliar face stumbled around the corner in front of us. At least it was unfamiliar to me. Aya seemed to recognize it. Before we could do anything, the boy with the curiously-colored hair fell to his knees.

"Brian!" Aya breathed. We both sprinted over to him and Aya scanned him critically. "Shit!" I refrained from gasping. I'd never heard Aya swear before. She was always polite, even if a bit stern at times. "Stay here," she ordered.

I nodded and knelt down before him cautiously. His eyes were drooping and unfocused, he was shaking uncontrollably, and he was practically dripping with a cold sweat. "It'll be okay, Brian. Whatever 'it' is…."

Aya raced around the corner toward the parking lot, searching frantically for Tala, Kai, or Spencer. They were what Brian needed the most right now. 3 familiar cars crawled out of their parking spaces and headed in her direction so she waved her arms over her head to flag them down. Their reaction was not the one she expected. Instead of slowing down they sped up, as if avoiding her. Angrily, she slammed her fist down on the roof of Tala's car, wincing as pain shot through her wrist. "Damn it you guys!" she belted out, turning and running back to where she'd left her friend and Brian.

Aya ran up with a stressed expression on her face. "Aya, what's wrong with him?"

"Never mind. Just help me get him to my car." Too confused to do anything but follow orders I pulled one of his arms over my shoulder and hauled him towards the parking lot. Aya tried to help but, in the end, just ran over and opened her door. It took a moment to get the boy into the back seat but I managed it and slammed the door shut as Aya started the car.

He became semi-conscious and felt around on the floor, between the crack in the seats, and even in his own pockets, pushing me carelessly out of the way in his search. "Where is it?" he demanded, grabbing at my throat. I quickly removed his hands from my windpipe, feeling the sting of his fingernails breaking the skin there.

"It's alright, Brian," Aya assured from the front seat. "Just hang on a bit longer."

It didn't appear to have comforted him at all. "You have it!" he looked like he was going to dive at her so I jumped between them and pushed him back into the seat. It was easier than expected, like whatever it was that was wrong with him was making him weaker. "G-give it…." And with that, he slipped unconscious again.

We made it to Aya's house without further incident and I drug Brian into the guest-bedroom. A few moments after we got him onto the bed, a voice called out from somewhere else in the house. I saw Aya's eyes widen in surprise and she ran over to the door. "Kaoru?" A tall, dark-haired boy with glasses appeared in the doorway. He looked about 4 years older than us and Aya ran up and hugged him around the middle. "What are you doing home? Never-mind. Help us. What do we do?"

He got a grim look on his face when he saw Brian lying on the bed, fingers twitching slightly along with the other symptoms I'd noted earlier. "Withdrawal?" he asked seriously. Aya nodded. With a sigh, he exited the room in search of the necessary tools for his newest patient.


	13. Antorin

Hello all of my faithful readers. Here is the 13th chapter. Enjoy!

Thank you to Desastrus, SleepySuki, and BridsofPray9832 for reviewing. 3 reviews until the next chapter. I'll try and type up a chapter next weekend but I have a soccer tournament Saturday and an archery practice Sunday. I'll try though!

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_**Chapter 13: Antorin**_

For the next hour—or maybe it was several hours, I never bothered to check really—Aya and I ran around as directed by Kaoru. I felt more like a chicken with my head cut off than anything but Aya looked serious and purposeful, completely focused on whatever task the man had given her. It wasn't until we had wrestled Bryan's sweatshirt off and were rubbing cool rags up and down his arms that I had time to ask a few questions.

"Aya, what's wrong with him?" I questioned, looking uneasily at the small puncture wounds on his arm.

Not looking up at me she continued her job, eventually switching the rag for an ice pack. "He's experiencing a drug withdrawal. I imagine it's from Antorin (A/N Not a real drug! Apparently I like writing about things I don't know about because I've never seen anybody go through withdrawal before. Therefore, some of these things may not seem right. Bear with me please!). It's an extremely addictive, extremely effective drug that's pretty popular on the streets around here. It can make you physically dependent on it after using it 8 times. He hasn't had it for a while so that's making him sick."

"Oh." I switched to an icepack as well, mulling things over in my head as I gradually moved up to his shoulder and back, cooling down the sever fever that had caused what I thought was cold sweat earlier. Finally, I decided to ask another question that had been pestering me. "Who's Kaoru?"

She gave a small smile. "He's my big brother. He's just entering his third year of college. He hasn't come to visit since the summer before last so that's why I was so surprised to see him here. I didn't think he'd want to come home." She set 2 of the ice packs against his left arm, a few on his back and one on his lower neck before spinning around and heading for the window. I looked up at her surprised. That serious, focused look on her face had turned somewhat harsh. Before I could ask what was wrong she continued, arms crossed and fingernails digging into her skin. "We have nothing to worry about. Bryan will be fine. Kaoru's done this before. He's helped his friends through withdrawal…." There was a long strenuous pause where I followed Aya's lead with the ice packs and she opened the window to sit on the sill. She was shaking terribly. "He helped me through it…."

I froze. _Aya did drugs? _Anyone who looked at her would say that she wasn't the type of person to do that. _I _never thought of her as the type to do that. And yet, here she was, continuing on despite herself and still shaking so uncontrollably I thought she'd fall out the window.

"You know how Mariam, Queen, and Salima were really mad at us earlier? Well, they've done that before to me. I screwed up really badly 2 years ago and they were angry at me so they just kind of shunned me. I was so upset that when I stumbled across a stash of the stuff, I started. One time was all it took me to get addicted and by the end of the week, I was dependent on it. Eventually, they forgave me and I wanted to stop but I couldn't so I called Kaoru while he was on his summer break 'cause I knew he'd helped his friends before."

She stopped here, finally breaking down. Tears glittered and flow mercilessly down her cheeks. I was over there in an instant, hugging her shoulders. She curled up in a ball and buried her head in my shoulder sobbing. I didn't say a word and just stood there, letting her go until there were no more tears. Finally, I was able to get her off the window and handed her a Kleenex. _Poor Aya, she must be going out of her mind here. _She looked scared, but it was more than that. She looked afraid of Bryan.

"His won't be nearly as bad as yours was." We both jumped and turned to see Kaoru in the doorway, 3 familiar figures behind him. Upon seeing Tala, Kai, and Spencer there she promptly wiped her eyes and regained her composure. Trying to put her a little more at ease, I went to stand between her and Bryan.

Not saying a word, they entered and gave Bryan a once-over. When they seemed satisfied they sat down on the ends of his bed. Aya looked nervous.

Kaoru laid a hand on her shoulder a moment later. "Relax little sis. I gave him a sedative." Aya took a calming breath and went to sit on one of the folding chairs we'd brought in, in the corner. I followed her.

"Why'd you give him a sedative?" Spencer asked, face blank and unreadable—at least to me. Aya gave him a look of sympathy.

Kaoru smiled somewhat. "After Aya tried to kill me 3 times with her hallucinations? I wouldn't let you near him without them." I noticed Tala's eyes widen slightly before returning to normal a moment later. He'd been staring at her strangely ever since they'd arrived.

Kai spoke up after a moment of awkward silence, voice as emotionless as ever. "So you're the one that kept dipping into our stash?" Aya averted her eyes in answer.

I saw Spencer reach into his pocket and clench something before pulling it out. It was a syringe. In the blink of an eye Kaoru had crossed the room and snatched it from him. Spencer jumped to his feet, standing a good 3-4 cm above him. "Give it back," he snarled threateningly.

Kaoru, however, stood his ground. I saw his fist clench the thing tighter than was probably recommended. "No! If you give it to him now, all of that suffering he's gone through will have been for nothing. If he doesn't stop now, he's going to end up like this every time his dealer gets caught or killed. Believe me. I know that's the main reason people have to go through this. That and they can't afford it anymore."

"Give it back!"

There was a loud TWACK followed by a THUD and a CRUNCH. Kaoru had given Spencer a left hook that laid him flat and, in the process, broke the syringe. A strong-smelling, clear liquid dripped to the floor. Kaoru cursed and rushed out of the room, ignoring Kai and Tala who had jumped to their feet to defend Spencer. Kai was about to go storming out of the room after him so I jumped up and grabbed his arm. He ripped his arm from my grasp and rounded on me, ready send his cocked fist flying.

"You know he's right!" Kai froze, frustration and stress etched into his features. "You don't like seeing Bryan like this any more than we do but if you keep feeding him this drug he's going to be like this twice as long!"

There was a curse and I whipped around to see Tala haul a green-looking Aya out of her chair and over to the window where she promptly leaned over the sill and emptied her stomach of its contents. I rushed over to rub her back comfortingly. She made a face at the taste of vomit in her mouth but managed to give Tala a grateful nod anyways. He'd practically carried her over to the window, after all.

Kaoru rushed in a moment later with a wet rag and set to cleaning up the drug. He looked at Aya, then the window, and then back at Aya. "Outside?" he asked hopefully. She nodded. He gave a small sigh of relief and I led Aya in the direction of the door to get a drink but Tala came on the other side and gave an almost-inconspicuous glance in Kai's direction. The blue-haired boy was still fuming. I nodded and let him take Aya, going to stand by Kai to prevent him from full-out attacking Kaoru.

When the other 2 had left I gave him a gentle push over to a chair. He growled at me and went over himself to sit on the edge of the bed, looking for all the world like he would strangle anyone that went near his friend. Spencer sat on the other side of the bed looking guilty and nursing a bruise on his chin. Well, this was going well.

* * *

Nothing else happened the rest of the evening. Kai eventually calmed down, Spencer hadn't said another word or moved from his position at Bryan's side, and Tala was constantly sneaking looks at Aya, worried about her _and_ his friend. I would've smiled at this if the moment hadn't been so serious. It was cute to see him worried about someone other than himself and he was finally seeing Aya as something more than just a bit of dirt on his shoe. Aya, however, didn't look interested. This made me frown a bit but I decided I'd forget it for now and ask her about it later.

The boys refused to leave Bryan and Kaoru wouldn't let them move him so we fished out sleeping bags and a small TV and put them in the room. I called home and told my mom I'd be sleeping over at Aya's house tonight. She asked if I needed my things but I declined.

Kaoru went and picked up a few movies to watch and we just sort of hung out there. I only remember half of the second movie.

The next morning when I woke up I found 5 sleeping teenagers and several forgotten sleeping bags in the corner. My back was rested against the wall and I'd laid my head on my arms which were crossed over my knees. Aya was hugging her left leg which was propped up beside her on the folding chair and rested her cheek on her knee. Spencer's chin was rested on his chest and he sat cross-legged on the bed, refusing to move from his friend's side. Tala was slouching in one of the folding chairs, arms crossed and head placed in the same position as Spencer's. Kai was the only one that used a sleeping bag.

I stood up and stretched sorely. Note to self, laying down is really the only way to get a proper night's sleep. Suddenly, Bryan stirred. A soft groan escaped him and his right hand twitched ever so slightly.

I walked over carefully and hushed him. No need to wake Spencer. "How do you feel?" I asked with a whisper.

"Like shit." I gave him a small smile. That was expected. "You got anything for a headache?" I nodded and reached for the bottle of aspirin on the nightstand. Kaoru had said it was okay for him to have some if he woke up when he left last night to get the movies. He swallowed the pill dry and sat up somewhat dizzily. He glanced around the room in confusion. "Where am I?" Then his gaze returned to me. "And who the hell are you?"

"I'm Casey and you're in the guest bedroom of Aya's house."

"Who's Aya?"

I pointed to her sleeping form in a nearby chair. "That's Aya. She used to be in the same class as you before you moved or whatever."

"Before I was shot?" I blinked. _He was shot? _Confused, I decided it best to just nod. He looked like he was thinking but grimace and dropped back to the pillows in a defeated manner. "I'll take your word for it." He looked at the familiar faces of his friends and seemed to relax again. "They weren't kidding, were they?"

"Pardon?"

"They weren't kidding when they said they quit."

I shook my head. "I haven't even known them for a month yet but, as far as I'm concerned, they don't do drugs." I gave him what I hoped was a comforting smile. "And soon, you won't either."

At this, his eyes sprang open. "What? But I don't want to quit. I just want some Antorin and to be on my way."

"Are you sure?" I jumped at Kai's voice behind me. I hadn't heard him wake up. "You might have money if you quit. In fact, you might even find that you have enough of a brain left to get the hell out of the way the next time you're looking down a barrel. Of course, the brain only goes so far if you can't make your body do what you want it to."

Bryan scowled up at him. "That was a one-time thing," he defended.

"Was it? The last time we saw you—before you collapsed—you could hardly stand. How are you supposed to defend yourself when you're a stones' throw from the edge or unconscious?"

"Hey, that's only because I haven't been able to get my hands on any more of the good stuff. My dealer got picked up by the cops and you guys didn't have any." His voice held a hint of anger and resentment.

"So you want to do this every time that happens?" I demanded, pushing Kai towards the door. He resisted so I pushed harder, flashing him a warning glare. "Rest." I ordered.

Finally, I managed to get Kai out into the hall and he growled at me. "What the hell did you butt in for? This is none of your business so _stay out of it_!" He was as angry as he had been last night. "Why does everyone keep assuming that we need their help? We can handle it if you all would just leave us alone!"

Now it was my turn to get angry. I grabbed his arm. "Firstly, I butt in because if you stress him any more, he's not going to be able to handle it. It'll make him worse. And secondly, you can't handle it. I saw the look on your faces when you came in. You were worried and you wouldn't have been if you new for sure that he'd be fine. You were uncertain of what to do. That's probably why Kaoru wouldn't let you take Bryan. Besides, we gave you the chance to help. Aya told me how you ignored her in the parking lot when she was trying to tell you that Bryan needed you. Maybe you're not the one that needs help, but Bryan does and I'm not going to let you and your pride stand in the way of that Hiwatari." He looked like he was going to say something but I turned on my heel and left before he could. It would ruin the psychological effect of my words if I gave him the chance to defend himself. If this was going to turn into a happily-ever-after, things would have to start looking up... and quick.


	14. Weight of the World

I'm soory if this next chapter is a bit short. I'm still tired from my soccer tournament yesterday. Anyhoo... you know the drill. yawns Enjoy.

Thanks to gliitch, Birds of Prey, and Desastrus for reviewing. 3 more 'afore next weekend.

* * *

**_Chapter 14: Weight of the World_**

By the time I got back inside the Yamaguchi's guest bedroom Bryan had fallen asleep again and it didn't look like he was planning on waking up anytime soon. I also found 3 not-fully-awake gazes locked on me. I saw a flash of anger and a bit of regret in Spencer's eyes. They'd heard me.

I wanted to say I was sorry. I wanted to tell him that I hadn't meant it, but no apology could evaporate the tension in the air because they knew as well as I did that it was the truth. They wanted to kill themselves for letting this happen to their friend, and they wanted to kill me for bringing up what they had worked so hard to push away. Nobody said anything for an extended moment. Tala and Spencer were looking at the sleeping Bryan with a torrent of emotions rolling around in their eyes while Aya fidgeted uncomfortably with the seam of her pants.

Aya looked like she was about to say something to distract them but I silenced her with a look. She understood immediately. _'We can't just let them think that they can bury everything inside. They need to deal with their individual problems before they deal with everyone else's.' _"I'll be back in a minute."

I left the room again and went out into an empty hallway. As I passed the living room window I heard the roar of an engine and a squealing of tires. Kai had left. I didn't know if this was good or bad. Kai didn't seem like the type to abandon his friends but I didn't know him that well and he may not feel like he was abandoning them at all. After all, I had just basically told him that we didn't need his help. On the other hand, maybe this was his way of dealing with things. Maybe he was just looking to be alone to solve his problems… or bury them. I sighed. _'I thought girls were supposed to be the complicated ones.'_

I found my way to a large window that looked out over the front lawn and stared out at the steady stream of cars that flowed down the street with my arms folded. Why did it feel like I was doing this all wrong? Why did it feel like I was making things worse rather than better? I groaned and slid down the wall. _'Why can't you do anything right Casey? You just pissed off the 3 people that can help Bryan get better. Speaking of which, you probably upset him as well. And Aya… you just smothered her while she was trying to help. You did the same thing Mariam, Salima, and Queen have been doing. You didn't mean to but you did. This is what happens when you try to get involved.'_

I stuck my head between my legs and bit down on my tongue. _'It's already a mess here with you making it worse. Just sit in that chair in the corner and let Aya and Kaoru handle it. Let Kai, Tala, and Spencer take care of themselves. They don't want nor need your help.'

* * *

_

A very confused-looking Kaoru entered the guest bedroom an hour later to find 5 very quiet teenagers. Kai entered a moment after him, making it 6 quiet teenagers (though one was asleep so he didn't know how much that counted. He silently took Bryan's pulse and temperature under the distant gazes of the other inhabitants of the room, mentally pleading for the boy to wake up again, even though he knew Bryan couldn't hear him. _'Come on kid. I can't let them be like this for too long. You're the only one who can help your friends, Tala's the only one that can help my little sister, and Aya's the only one that can help Casey.'

* * *

_

Spencer stared unseeingly down at the silver-haired boy on the bed as what's-his-name placed 2 fingers on his pale wrist and glanced at his watch. Over and over again he heard the gunshot—so real he swore it was echoing around the room—and he saw the dizzying flashes of memory from the night Bryan was shot: The slight jerk his body had made when the bullet hit his shoulder, the look of immense pain on his face, the blood spattered over the pavement, the last slash that a kid he was fighting had made that had sliced open the skin above his right brow, carrying the screaming boy to Kai's car, the drive to the hospital with Bryan still in his arms, the face of the nurse that had denied them entrance, the long wait outside that door at Kai mansion. But what he remembered more clearly than anything was that helplessness. He hadn't been able to protect Bryan from that bullet, just like he hadn't been able to protect the boy from himself. He could do no more than stand back and watch Bryan poke a stick at the fire of death.

And the fear. Bryan had always been his best friend. Kai and Tala were great but nobody had quiet understood him like the unconscious boy before him. To lose the person who had saved him in more ways than one would have driven him mad. Sure, Bryan had, had to move and that hurt… but he was still alive.

Spencer clenched the sheets in a fist and closed his eyes. If he hadn't been so helpless before, if he had been stronger—faster—maybe none of this would have happened. Maybe everything would be alright now.

* * *

Tala was looking at his hands. They didn't seem a part of him anymore. Experimentally, he tried to move one, just to make sure he was still alive and/or awake, and growled inwardly when it did little more than twitch.

Why was he always like this when he thought about Bryan's accident. It wasn't his fault. He wasn't the one who pulled the trigger, the one who provoked the boy who did, or the lady that had stopped them from entering the hospital. He hadn't started the fight in the first place, stood in the way when a gun was pointed at him, or been too stubborn to give up a bad habit. It wasn't his doing.

But the more he told himself that, repeated it over and over in his head, the more guilt began to grab at him. Bryan was his friend. He should have been there to knock the gun away, shut his mouth, drag him off when he started to reach for a knife, pushed him out of the way, or kept better track of him. If he had done any of these… maybe things would have turned out better. Maybe he would be okay.

* * *

Kai didn't say a word as he sat down in the folding chair, pointedly located on the opposite side of the room as Casey, but he was mentally kicking and cursing himself. He was the leader of the gang. He was supposed to know what to do and when. He was supposed to have all of the answers and he was supposed to protect his friends. He had done none of these things.

Casey had been right. Damn her. He hadn't been helping Bryan—or any of the guys—he'd been hindering them. It was his mistake for letting Bryan lead them into an unnecessary fight. It was also his mistake for getting Bryan stressed earlier. Sure, Bryan needed to be kicked in the ass every now and then, but he had _been_ there. He knew what it was like and he knew how to get Bryan to quit but he couldn't say it. All he could do was get angry and try to pin all of the blame on Bryan. His pride wouldn't let him take it. She had also been right about him being worried about Bryan. He remembered Tala and Spencer having to stop him from committing suicide several times because of the withdrawal and… other problems. But that was another story.

He grimaced and slouched a bit more in his chair. This was turning into more than it should have.

* * *

Aya hugged her knee to her chest and stared distractedly out the window. It was a hot, muggy day outside and the air in the room seemed thicker than it had before. Of course, the weather wasn't the only reason for this, but she had liked to think it was.

Tala, Kai, and Spencer were dealing with their problems; Bryan was still asleep; and Casey had retreated in a guilty manner. Everyone had isolated themselves and that made her feel isolated. She wanted to go over to Casey and comfort her but she couldn't seem to get out of her chair. But even if she had, she didn't think that the short brunette would talk to her.

Oh, how she hated this. There was nothing she could do to comfort anyone. Nothing. She wasn't brave or forward enough to break the silence and if she did they would only snap at her. It was always like this. Well…_ almost_ always. Her curiosity had gotten the better of her on several occasions, including her episode at Kai's house when she barged in on the band practicing. The memory caused her to blush with embarrassment. She wasn't usually like that. Curiosity and boredom can show different sides of you, sides you aren't particularly proud of. Those sides kept her quiet when she had a chance to talk and in her chair when she had an urge to stand up.

She glanced around the room quickly at the faces of the other teens. First was Bryan. She hadn't really known him that well except for his quick mouth. Second was Spencer. He always gave her the impression of a big teddy bear, though she didn't know exactly why. He put up a tough front but if you got him relaxed he was pretty nice. Third was Kai. He didn't talk to her much but he didn't completely ignore her either, which was good. Next was Tala. She wasn't quite sure of her feelings toward him anymore. At one time his fun-loving, invincible attitude had occupied her dreams; but, even then, she had gotten no closer to him and last weekend the other shoe had dropped in the encounter with the girls he'd been cheating on (which, in itself, was discouraging). Last was Casey, her best friend. She'd only been here 3 weeks but had brought out one of those sides she was afraid of: the open, talkative, confident one. But around her, that side hadn't seemed so scary. Casey made her comfortable with herself, but obviously it did not apply the other way around. She could see her friend close to depression. When people were talking to her and laughing with her she was fine. However, when they weren't she was in a constant neutral, indifferent state and when in deep though there was a tinge of sorrow and regret in her eyes. That's why seeing her in the corner made Aya uncomfortable.

She returned her gaze to the trunk of a tree in her neighbor's yard. She didn't want to think about that right now. She didn't want to think about anything right now.

* * *

We must have stayed that way for 3 more hours before another groan from Bryan stirred a response from our dismal group. We all perked up and watched him carefully as he yawned and rubbed at his eyes before groaning again at the returning headache. 


	15. Thanks

Hi. It's me again. Here's the weekly chapter as promised. Normally, I ask for 3 reviews but I think I'll move it up to 5 this time. Sorry, but I worked really hard on this chapter and I keep thinking that there aren't that many people reading this story.

Thanks to BirdsofPrey9832, gliitch, GoddessPhoenix3173, and Desastrus for reviewing.

_**Chapter 15: Thanks**_

"Bryan!" Spencer immediately stood up and rushed to the night stand to get his friend another aspirin. Right now, it was the perfect way to distract him from his dismal thoughts. "How are you feeling?"

The silver-haired boy raised an eyebrow slightly. "You said you've done this before. What do you think?" Spencer didn't say anything, making Bryan frown in confusion and slight concern. "What's up with you?"

"It's nothing." Spencer handed him the pill and he, once again, swallowed it dry.

"How long have I been out?"

"About 4 hours." It was a simple, nonchalant answer. Nobody wanted to say any more than was absolutely necessary.

"Oh." He sat up slowly and gave a look about the room. Suddenly, his stomach growled. "Heheh. Guess I'm hungry." It sounded like a hint so I volunteered to help Aya with lunch. Maybe that was something I _could_ do right. Bryan waited for the footsteps to fade before rounding on his friends. "Okay, seriously. What's up with you guys?" The 3 boys exchanged uneasy glances but none of them said anything. The silver-haired boy grew a stress mark. "Just tell me, damn it!"

After another moment of silence they all spoke at once. "It's my fault!" (all)

"I should have stopped you from getting into that fight." (Tala)

"I should have been there to help you with that kid with the gun." (Spencer)

"I'm the leader so I should have protected you." (Kai)

When they had finally finished insisting that everything that had happened was their fault and proclaiming what they should have done loud enough for the entire house to hear (thus destroying the purpose of having the girls leave) Bryan sunk back into the pillow with a sigh before giving a soft chuckle.

"That's it?" Tala, Kai, and Spencer looked taken aback. "That's what's been eating away at you for the last—what's it been now—a year?" He snorted. "I shouldn't be surprised. You guys always did think it was your responsibility to protect me from my own stupid mistakes." He sat up again and pulled up his sleeve, revealing the shoulder that had been injured. The only evidence of him being shot was a white circle of skin—almost like a scar—a bit smaller than an American dime. "Look. It's fine." He waved his arm around violently for emphasis. "Mum and Dad took me to a clinic and got me patched up real good. It's all better now. Besides, if it's anyone's fault it's mine. They were my stupid mistakes and… I'm okay with that. You live and learn; what happens, happens; and all that jazz. The point is I'm okay now—other than this killer migraine."

He laced his fingers behind his head and moved back so he could lean up against the headboard.

"Now then… to more important matters." The whole atmosphere lightened dramatically after Bryan's speech… thing. Suddenly, the shooting just wasn't a big deal anymore. No more lying in bed a night trying to chase away nightmares or wondering what they could have done to prevent all that from ever happening. Yeah, it was bad… but it just wasn't worth toiling over any more, you know? "So Tala…." The red-head groaned mockingly. Bryan's 'important matters' were often sporadic things that sprung up in his mind when they weren't needed and probably wouldn't surface when he actually _did_ need them. "Did you ever hook up with that hot chick from your science class?"

Tala turned as red as his hair. Kai gave him an amused look and Spencer started cracking up. They'd never seen him _this_ embarrassed. He was fine—almost vulgar—when talking about attractive women or the girls who had a crush on _him_, but when it came to the people _he_ had a crush on…. Well, it a bit awkward.

"What 'hot chick'?" Spencer asked through bouts of laughter. This was the one thing they loved to tease him about. "'Cmon Tala. Who's the lucky girl?"

He heard footsteps outside the door and quickly jerked a hand across his throat. A moment later Aya peeked in the door. "Is chicken-flavored ramen okay with you guys?" she asked quietly. Upon catching a glimpse of the red-faced Tala and the other guys just barely keeping their laughter in she raised an eyebrow. "What's—."

"That's fine," Tala interrupted. This was not something he wanted to explain, especially not to her.

"What's the matter Tala? Why don't you tell her about—." Suddenly Bryan's eyes widened in realization. "Ohhh…. Right. Carry on." He waved his hand dismissively at Aya who cast them a strange look before backing out slowly with the sneaking suspicion that they had just been talking about her. Of course, by now Kai and Spencer had put 2 and 2 together and they all thought that Spencer was going to suffocate.

Come lunch time they had reached a state of semi-calm but every now and again I caught them sneaking amused glances at Aya. All except for Tala of coarse. He stubbornly refused to look in her direction (which I imagine was difficult seeing as she sat in a chair about 10 feet away).

Finally, tired of having to whack Spencer on the back to keep him from choking on his food, Kai gave Tala a sharp elbow to the ribs and a pointed look. Tala shook his head and Kai deepened the look to a glare. Tala glared back. For a long moment they sat their, confusing Aya all the more, until finally Tala looked away with a sigh. Kai grunted in triumph and motioned for him to help Aya pick up the bowls and take them to the sink… in the kitchen… as in, not in this room. I watched them leave with slight concern. What were they planning?

_**In the Kitchen:**_

Aya carefully set the dishes in the sink, feeling extremely uncomfortable. What was going on and what did it have to do with her? Tala still refused to look at her and there was an internal conflict in his face. She quickly began to rinse out the bowls and place them in the dishwasher. The sooner they got finished, the better.

She was almost done. She just had to put this one more bowl in the dishwasher and she could return to the guest bedroom where everyone else sat. They wouldn't do whatever they were planning to do in front of everybody, would they? Hoping she was right, Aya shut the door, turned the knob to start it, and dried her hands on the towel that hung on the door of the oven. All done. Now she was safe. Or so she thought….

When she turned around she felt 2 hands on her neck, holding her head strait and a pair of lips were on hers. She sucked in a breath through her nose. After seeing her surprise Tala quickly pulled away and took 2 steps backward. Aya's eyes were still wide.

She stared openly at Tala as he looked down at his feet, as if finding the wooden floor suddenly very interesting. Aya opened her mouth to say something but Tala interrupted her. "I'm sorry. I just…." Without finishing he took off toward the guest bedroom, toward his friends and safety. Aya ran after him as far as the threshold of the hallway and watched as he disappeared into the room and shut the door behind him.

"Tala…" She put her fingers to her lips, trying to shake off the stun. A moment later the door opened again and Tala stumbled back into the hallway with a little 'encouragement' on Kai's part. He gestured towards her and slammed the door. Tala cringed when he saw her. They stood there in the same manner as before for a long time. Finally, Aya was able to make her legs work. She walked slowly towards him, not entirely sure what she was going to do when she got there. She didn't want to like him, not after what he'd done. But still, a part of her really wanted to be the one that he called his girlfriend. A part of her still wanted him. So when she finally made it to him she stood right in front of him, grabbed his shoulders for balance, stood on her toes, and kissed him. He seemed surprised for a moment but looked disappointed when she pulled away. There was another awkward silence before she pulled him into a hug, burying her head in his chest. Yes, this is where she wanted to be.

_**Back With Everyone Else:**_

I glanced about confusedly when Tala and Aya left with our dirty dishes. What was going on? The guys seemed to be trying to hold back laughter and I wasn't entirely sure whether that was a good or bad thing. What if they were going to play some nasty trick on her? _Relax Casey. They wouldn't hurt her. Not after what she's done for them. _But more than a hint of doubt pulled at the corner of my mind. They all grew silent, as if listening for something. I shifted uncomfortably and strained my ears as well but I could only hear water splashing into the sink.

Spencer frowned. "What's he waiting for?" He silently went over to the door and slowly cracked it open. It looked like he was afraid that _they_ would hear _him_. A minute or so later the water stopped and there was the sound of the dishwasher starting. Then nothing. The boys were beginning to look impatient.

"What's going on?" I whispered. They ignored me.

Suddenly, there were quick footsteps and Tala slipped into the room, shutting the door behind himself. He seemed hurried and shaky. I don't think I've ever seen anyone with the appearance of being pale and bright red at the same time. We all jumped to our feet (all except Bryan that is). Tala simply shook his head and leaned up against the door.

"Where's Aya?" I demanded. Once again, I was ignored. Kai grabbed Tala's arm, pulled him out of the way, opened the door, and shoved the red-head out. I stood frozen as Kai came back into the room and slammed the door shut, glaring at it irritably.

"It's not that hard," Spencer grunted. "I mean, he's done it a hundred times."

Kai's face fell into a neutral expression. "I think this is different."

I finally couldn't take it any more. If Aya was going to be in trouble—if Tala was going to do something to upset her—I was at least going to be there. "Kai, what's going on?" There was no answer. Angrily, I stormed over to him. I may not have time to be ignored. I reached out to grab his shoulder and spin him around to face me but he just slapped it away. "Damn it Kai! If whatever you're doing is going to affect Aya you'd better tell me—."

"Shut up," he hissed, listening intently. Suddenly, my anger turned to rage and I felt the urge to hit Kai with all my strength. I don't remember ever having such a strong compulsion to hit somebody before. I remember clenching my fist and the next thing I knew I was on the other side of the room clutching my stomach and gasping for air. The hit had knocked the wind out of me. "_Shit_!"

"Kai!" Spencer gasped running over to me and pulling me to my feet.

"Not my fault!" he growled, following and giving me a once over looking for injuries, even though he knew there wouldn't be any. "Old habit." Apparently, Aya and Tala had heard us and barged in, looking around wildly to try and figure out what happened.

"Oh my god! What happened?" Aya demanded.

She was fine. Worried, but fine. Great, another time in which I had unnecessarily tried to stick my nose into something. "Nothing. What happened to you?" This is where Aya turned a deep shade of red and Tala moved a step closer to her. My eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Ohh..." Now would be a good time for a change of subject but I couldn't really think of anything else to talk about so I settled for taking the spotlight away from myself. "So did you ask him out or did he ask you?"

She shifted uncomfortably before looking up at him and smiling. "He didn't have to." He smiled back and I couldn't stop myself from smirking. It was just so cute.

_**Skipping ahead a few hours because nothing interesting happens here. They went home, showered, changed, and came back.**_

Kaoru (who had been out most of the day today) brought us more movies. Tala reluctantly released Aya from his grip and she told me to help her make some popcorn while the boys argued over what movie to watch. Sensing that she just wanted to talk to me alone, I obediently followed her. She led the way into the kitchen and riffled through the pantry for the popcorn while I fished 3 large bowls out of an indicated cupboard. She emerged triumphantly after a few minutes and threw the first bag into the microwave. We listened to it heating up for a bit before Aya started to speak.

"Hey Casey."

"Mmm?"

"Thanks."

I blinked. "For what?"

She folded her arms and leaned back against the counter, fixing me with a serious look. "For everything." I stood there stunned for a long while. She'd said 5 words to me and I was already feeling better. I laughed mentally. I don't know how she knew what those words would mean to me but she always did. She always knew. To most people a 'thank you' would have meant nothing—or next to it—but to me it was everything. It wasn't just a 'thanks for handing me the salt', or a 'thanks for the birthday card'. It was something that you didn't just say, and when you heard it, you knew that the person really meant it.

I gave her a smile. "No problem." Just then the alarm went off and we both jumped sky high, having completely forgotten about the popcorn. This made us crack up. Today had certainly been a tense one and it looked as if the effects hadn't worn off.

That night, we watched 'The Fast and the Furious' (Sorry, it's an American movie). I liked it. Aya was leaning on Tala throughout the whole thing and he had an arm draped around her shoulders. I think they had wanted to go out for a long time—though neither of them had been brave enough to admit it.


	16. Headed Home

Hello there. I'm back. I know it's been a while and I'm sorry but I'm rapidly losing motivation for this whole story so my apologies if it's only a few more chapters long. Hurray, I'm finally getting to the point! Well… no I'm not. There's no real point to this story.

PS: Thanks to BirdsofPrey9832, gliitch, Amanda the Awesome-est, GoddessPhoenix3173, and Desastrus for reviewing. You guys are the best!

PPS: Sorry about all of the spelling and grammar errors in the last chapter!

* * *

_**Chapter 16: Headed Home**_

It was now Sunday and Bryan seemed to be ever-so-slowly getting better. According to Kaoru he had peaked Friday afternoon and the effects of the withdrawal would only last about a week or so. He said that after the weekend Bryan would be well enough to look after himself so he offered to drive the silver-haired boy back home Monday morning so he could make it back to his apartment before his evening classes.

Aya and Tala spent the whole day together. He wouldn't let her out of his sight except to go to the bathroom. To be honest, I was feeling a small pang of jealousy. Not towards Tala—as far as I'm concerned they were practically made for each other. I was jealous of her having the perfect guy. Want to know a secret? I'd never had a boyfriend before—at least, not a real one. In middle school a boy asked me out but we hardly spoke. In fact, other than a dance or 2 I never saw him outside of school. Aya and Tala, however, were perfect. Every flaw that one of them had, the other seemed to balance out; and Tala brought out a different side of Aya. I suppose it wasn't all that different. Let me rephrase that. Tala brought out the side of Aya I never could. She was more open now and seemed happier. I was happy for her.

Mom called in the afternoon and ordered me to come home. Apparently, she'd been worried ever since she found out that a guy would be sleeping in the same room as me. Cue eye roll. She let me ride off on a motorcycle with one (I'll admit, I think she had been a bit 'distracted' then) but she wouldn't let me sleep in the same room as one even when she knew that I wasn't going to be sexually involved with any of them. She should be more worried about Allison.

After Mom called everyone else pretty much decided to leave too. After all, we had been here for how long? I think Tala stayed though. So Kai, Spencer, and I said goodbye to Bryan and I clambered into the passenger seat of Kai's sleek convertible. He was giving me a ride home.

I remember trying to grab my whipping hair to shove into a ponytail when Kai finally spoke. "Where'd you get those scratches on your neck?"

"Huh?" I brought my hand up to the side of my neck and felt the roughness of broken skin trying to heal. "Oh, these? They were just from when Bryan was freaking out on Friday. He didn't mean to." He nodded, seeming satisfied and fell silent again, watching the road. I looked out the window at the houses rushing past. Then, mine went too. "Um… Kai?" I tapped him on the shoulder and he seemed to snap out of some deep thought. "You passed my house."

He grunted and made an illegal U-turn, this time pulling into my driveway. _What was he thinking about so hard that he forgot to drop me off? Maybe he was just going into habit, heading for his own house. _Mom used to do that all the time in the States. She'd be taking me to a soccer game or something and she'd head to work because that's just what she did every morning. I thanked Kai and gave him a small wave as he pulled out of the driveway.

He didn't wave back.

I frowned with concern. Not because he didn't wave to me—one couldn't really expect that from Kai—but because it looked as if he'd slipped back into whatever thought that had distracted him earlier. I couldn't help but be curious as to what was bothering him.

I shook my head. That wasn't my business. _Stay out of it! _I ordered myself. _It's not your place to butt in. _Telling myself this over and over again I walked into the house. Kai would not be very happy if I did not respect his privacy.

* * *

The next day at school we encountered a little problem. Just a little one. I sat down at our usual lunch table with my sack lunch and waited for Aya to go through the queue line. I gave a brief wave as she approached. I wished we had more than just homeroom together in the mornings. She smiled in response, unwilling to remove a hand from her tray lest it be swatted away by the people bustling around with their own destinations in mind. Aya never reached hers, for as she passed his table Tala directed her to a vacant chair on his left with an arm around her waist. She grinned at him and sat down, throwing me an apologetic look. I nodded in understanding. We'd see each other next period anyways.

Half way through the lunch period Mariam noticed that one of the chairs at our table was empty. She glanced about at all the faces before finally concluding that Aya was missing. "Where's Aya?" she asked. The question was for the whole table to hear but mostly directed at me. I was, after all, the closest to her.

"She's sitting with her boyfriend," I informed her. _This is going to get ugly isn't it? _Upon receiving many raised eyebrows I motioned to where she sat beside Tala. They were talking to each other and I saw Aya trying and failing to hold back a fit of giggles.

They all scanned the area, skipping over her because they hadn't expected her to be there. Tyson was the first to spot their friend and, with a mouth full of noodles, suddenly exclaimed: "She going out with Tala?!"

He might as well have dropped a bomb because several people exploded. "WHAT!"

I winced at the volume. They could be _really _loud when they wanted to. "Relax guys," I cooed. "It's not really that bad." That was the wrong thing to say.

"Not that bad?" Queen demanded. "Not that bad? You obviously weren't there when he kicked her in the face with a soccer ball in 6th grade—4 times; or when he spilt chemicals all over her in science last year; and weren't you there when he tried to drown her at Lee's party?" I sat stunned. I'd never seen Queen so upset with words before. It was usually fists that helped her get her point across.

I quickly regained my composure and retaliated. "Obviously things are different now. She doesn't need you to protect her anymore. Look at her. I said look!" I growled. "She's laughing. She's happy! She's finally taking control of her life and having fun with it and you just can't accept the fact that she not the little puppy that used to follow you around anymore. She's not fragile! She can take care of herself. Besides, she never said you had to like Tala just because she does. Go ahead and hate him for all I care! Just don't stand in her way." In my spark of anger I jumped up and walked out of the lunchroom down the hall, abandoning my tray.

Don't get me wrong, the guys are really fun. They always know how to have a good time. But sometimes they just don't see what they're doing, especially to Aya. I sighed and leaned against a locker. _Why do people have to be so difficult? _

I couldn't help but jump as Kai suddenly exited the boys' bathroom. I noticed he was wearing a large sweatshirt and gave another frown of confusion. It had to be at least 85 degrees. He walked by me without glancing up, as if he hadn't seen me. There was a distant look in his crimson eyes. _Again? What's going on with him? No! No you don't. Don't interfere. _With this thought firmly in my mind I continued down the hallway to my locker, trying to ignore the pang of worry in the back of my mind.

* * *

Aya was really upset as I drove her home. She looked like she was trying not to explode. I couldn't help but feel a small hint of pride as she vented her frustration at her friends. Getting angry wasn't a good thing, I know, but she was finally starting to stand up for herself. Regardless of still not completely trusting Tala, he seemed to be working wonders for her confidence.

School was gradually getting more stressful with the teachers handing out more homework and quizzes now that everybody had finally settled down after summer vacation. Drama had evened out to somewhat more than I remember my old school to be but Aya told me that it was about average before admitting with a blush, "Though it usually doesn't involve me." It turned out to be a pretty average week, counting down the days until Friday and—eventually—the classes until the weekend. Aya had started riding home with Tala. Don't think I'm upset or anything, because I'm not. Aya was enjoying herself. That's all that mattered

* * *

I'd been instructed to stop after school and pick up a birthday cake for Allison. Her birthday was coming up. So I drove a little out of my way to the bakery, refraining from multiple curses as I battled traffic. The shop was small and pleasant, advertising many delicious-looking desserts. I thought about buying more than just the cake but decided against it.

It was an extravagant-looking marble cake with fluffy white frosting over it and 'Happy Birthday Alli' written in light pink. Confetti-like candy was sprinkled over that and party balloons floated on ribbons on either side of the words. I took the circular cake carefully out to my truck and secured it tightly between the seats, cushioned on all sides with something or another to keep it in place. Allison was a very difficult person to please. Any flaws would be noted and I was sure I'd hear all about them. It would be best to play it safe.

On my way home I found myself on a vaguely familiar street, but it wasn't until I saw Kai's large mansion that I realized where I was. We'd always come from a different direction. Well, at least I was confident I'd be able to find my way home now.

When I was about 50 feet from his front gate a figure dashed into the middle of the road. Startled, I slammed on the brakes and rested my hand on the cake, making sure it didn't slide onto the floor. I looked up and saw Kai—no more then a meter from my front bumper—staring at me with wide eyes. I cracked my door open. "Are you okay?"

A voice shouted from somewhere inside the front gate, though I couldn't see who it was over the garden wall, but it snapped Kai out of his trance and he ran over to the passenger side, yanked the door open, jumped into the seat, and ordered me to go. Damn my stick shift truck.

I threw it back into first gear and took off as fast as I could, shifted into second and pressed down hard on the gas. I was about to send it into 3rd when Kai, bent over and clutching his stomach, grabbed it and moved it into 5th.

"That won't help much," I informed him, returning my hand to the wheel. "Now I have to wait for my engine to…" My eyes widened in surprise when I saw my hand. On the back of it where Kai had touched it was something bright red and sticky and I seriously doubted it was cherry Kool-Aide. I chanced a glance at Kai. He was still bent over in the seat, right arm pressed tightly to his stomach and left hand frantically pressing buttons on him phone. Suddenly he growled as if remembering something extremely inconvenient.

I took a few sharp turns and pulled into my driveway immediately jumping out of the truck and running around to get the door for Kai. He already had it open. "Come on." I motioned for him to follow me but he just shook his head and cast a wary glance at the house. "Nobody's home," I assured him, pulling lightly on the sleeve of his sweatshirt but stopping upon seeing him wince.

He reluctantly limped up to the front door. Once inside, I quickly shut the door and directed him to the bathroom where I began to rummage about in the linen closet for towels that I would be able to throw away when done and the peroxide.

"Where are you injured?" I demanded. He just grunted, refusing to answer. Scowling, I changed my approach. "Take off your sweatshirt." At least he answered this time.

"No."

I sighed. This was going to be harder than I thought. "Why do you have to be so—?" I stopped and took a deep breath, placing my hand to my forehead. "Okay, listen. Either you let me help you or I start asking questions."

He glared at me but I stood my ground. It wasn't until after several drops of blood hit the ground that he finally looked away and carefully peeled the indicated piece of clothing off.


	17. Liar

Here's chapter 17 free of charge. This story may end next chapter.

* * *

_**Chapter 17: Liar**_

I turn away quickly, just barely refraining from gasping as I sew him. His shirt was torn to shreds and blood was leaking out of long, fairly deep wounds scattered over his chest. Without a word I wet a few towels and instruct him to take his shirt off too. It'd be hard to clean the gashes with it on. He very reluctantly did as told and sat down on the wide edge of the bathtub, revealing a few long but shallow cuts on his back and several bruises. One particularly large one was darkening on his stomach.

I finally managed to regain my composure and sat beside him. He turned slightly so I could wash the blood off of his back. I did so as gently as possible but he was still in a lot of pain. He clenched his hands into white-knuckled fists when I put peroxide on them.

I asked him if he wanted me to sew up the gashes on his chest but he declined. I hadn't expected him to say yes. When I was done I took his sweatshirt and put it in the washer, leaving him alone in the bathroom to nurse whatever injuries he had sustained in other places. I got him some ice too and passed it through the crack in the door for him to use.

When the washer was done I threw his sweatshirt into the dryer. Kai was in the living room watching TV, the ice pack still pressed to his stomach. It almost hurt to see the bruises littering his arms and torso. It wasn't that hard to figure out.

Kai was abused. I cursed myself mentally for not having seen it before. Now that I thought back on it, he would sometimes wince every-so-slightly when his friends would rough-house with him and tended to avoid anything physical. In fact, his friends tended to not even touch him, like he would break or something. _So they know too. _The sweatshirt should have been a dead give-away but I had been too wrapped up in my own self-pity to think that someone out there may have been more miserable than me.

_I wonder who… No. No! No! No! I told him I wouldn't ask questions. I won't ask. That's his business._

10 minutes later I took the ice pack away from him. He had fallen asleep. I carefully reclined the chair he was in and covered him with a blanket, trying not to wake him up. I'd let him sleep for another half hour or so. My parents would be home in a little over an hour. Allison, however, was out shopping with her friends in celebration of her 18th birthday and would eventually go see a movie that ended at 10:00 before stampeding the horde back to the house for a sleepover.

While he slept I went to work cleaning the bathroom up; disposing of the red-stained clothes; cleaning the drops of blood on the floor and putting away the various bandages and wound-cleaning things such as peroxide, Neosporin, and some kind of foreign product that Takeshi kept around for bruises. I also got rid of his shirt. It was beyond repair anyways.

About the time I finished straitening up the bathroom I heard Kai's phone start to vibrate on the coffee table. The call was from Tala. I flicked off the TV before answering it.

"Tala!"

There was a pause. **"Umm… yeah. Who's this?"**

"It's Casey. Listen—."

"**Casey? What are you doing with Kai's phone?"**

"That's a long story. Anyways, where are you?"

"**Half way to my cousin's house. Why?"**

I swore. "Kai's hurt. He can't stay here or my parents will freak and I'm not sending him home. Where else can he go?"

"**Shit. You know then, don't you?" **I nodded but, remembering he couldn't see me said 'yes.' **"Spencer's gone to his Dad's house this weekend so…. Ack, I don't know!" **I could tell he was seriously stressing.

"You don't let him go home every night like this, right? Surely there's somewhere he could stay!"

"**You don't get it. If he doesn't go home it gets worse…. A lot worse." **I heard him sigh in frustration on the other end of the line. **"He's turning 18 in 2 weeks. He'll be able to stay on his own then. He just needs somewhere to stay until that Thursday. For tonight, I guess he can stay at my house. Nobody will be home to say no. Tell him the key's under the rose bush by the back door. If we're lucky he can stay tomorrow night too. After that, I don't know."**

"Alright, I'll try to think of something. Thanks, Tala." He grunted and hung up.

I flipped the phone shut and looked at the still-sleeping Kai. He looked a lot more vulnerable when he was asleep. Several emotions flashed through my head. Pity: though I was prone to deny it. Nobody should have to suffer that much in a lifetime, let alone in one day. Anger: at whoever did this to him. Regret: for not being able to do more. Guilt: for not noticing sooner. And finally, determination: I'd find a way to help him. I would.

I pulled his sweatshirt out of the dryer and, as gently as possible, shook him awake. He grunted when I told him Tala's plan. However, when I said we'd try to help him find somewhere away from home he snarled. "I don't need help!"

It was a silent car ride.

* * *

Allison's birthday was the next day. After her friends left around noon amidst a flurry of argument we had our own little family birthday. I consisted of the left over cake I'd almost forgotten in my truck yesterday; singing 'Happy Birthday;' and, when called upon, produced the gift that Mom had picked out and bought.

Later, I told Mom I was going to Aya's, remembered she was having family over that day, and headed to the park instead. I sake on the rocky shore of the large pond and stared out at it. _I want to help him, but he won't let me. What should I do?_ I sat there a long while before reaching my conclusion. _Just keep my mouth shut. That's all I _can

* * *

Monday morning, in homeroom Kai came up to me. I received many threats and a deadly glare before he was finally satisfied that I wouldn't tell anyone. He had a new bruise peeking out from under his sleeve.

I became more and more worried as the week progressed. Each day Kai seemed more and more exhausted and pained and the only looks he gave me came with a glare, a silent warning. I thought nothing of it when he got called to the office Friday.

Not that I'd ever admit it to anyone, but I'd fallen into the habit of driving by Kai's house on my way home every day. I was almost hoping he would run out the front gates again. I wanted to help somehow. Friday afternoon was different though. Several squad cars were parked at random on the well-manicured lawns, the large front door stood open, a large group of maids and butlers—soon joined by chefs and others—were huddled near the garden wall, police officers were rushing about, and a very angry Kai stood in the middle of it all, silently fuming. I kept driving.

I had to stop at a stoplight a few blocks away and heard my phone ringing. It took a bit of rummaging around in my bag to find it. The caller was unidentified. Curious, I answered it.

"Hello?"

"**Turn around. Now."**

I paused, thinking. "Kai?"

"**No, the Easter Bunny. Get back here."**

"How did you get my number?" He'd already hung up. With a sigh I circled the block and parked near the curb on the other side of the street. Tala and Spencer were already there. I had to wait a bit for traffic.

When I got to the other side of the street Kai stormed over to me, face flushed with rage. "You told them, didn't you?" he roared. I'd never heard him so loud before. "You said you wouldn't tell!" He grabbed my left arm in a tight grip, fingers trying to tear through the sleeve of my t-shirt. I winced.

"I didn't tell anybody Kai!" I defended. And I hadn't. There were several times that I'd wanted to but I didn't.

"_**LIAR!" **_He squeezed my arm harder and brought his hand up. I flinched but he just grabbed my other shoulder and pushed me against the garden wall. "Why did you tell them?"

"Kai, I didn't tell them!" My voice was breaking. Why was he doing this to me? I wasn't lying.

"Quit lying!" He pulled me forward a few inches and slammed me back against the wall. "I had it under control! I could have dealt with my grandfather! I didn't need you butting in!"

"I didn't—!" I was interrupted by another slam up against the wall, this time knocking the air out of me. The officers had all disappeared inside the mansion, searching the maze of a house for Kai's grandfather I assumed and the servants just looked on the sight with fear. Tala and Spencer each grabbed one of Kai's arms and hauled him across the lawn. I crumpled to the ground, gasping for air and sobbing.

I didn't know why I was crying, I know I didn't want to cry, but the tears came just the same. Maybe it was the stress of the situation—of the entire week for that matter—or maybe it was just the anger. I didn't know why he wouldn't believe me.

The anger turned into defiance. He could believe what he wanted. I never told anyone anything about his injuries. So I took several deep breaths, stood up, wiped my face, and took several more deep breaths. When I felt semi- under control I looked over at Kai. He was having a heated discussion with a nervous-looking police officer. _If you keep trying to terrify everyone, Kai, you'll be just like him. You end up just like your grandfather. _

I shot him a glare he wouldn't see and headed for my truck. I didn't need this. If he was so eager to deal with his own damned problems then let him deal.

* * *

When I woke up Saturday morning my arm hurt and my head ached. I noted the 5 small bruises with a scowl. Determined to get out of the house I went for the jog I had neglected to go on since moving to Japan. I found that resentment was good for blocking pain. When I got back, thoroughly out of breath with my muscles aching beyond belief, Aya's car was waiting in the driveway. She sat on the hood patiently and a worried frown had pasted itself onto her face. She leapt up when she saw me.

"Casey! There you are! You'll never guess what happened. You know when Kai got called to the office Friday?" She was as breathless as I was. Something in the tone of my grunt, however, alerted her to my irritation. She gasped. "You knew! That's why you were so nervous all week!"

I grunted again and lead the way into the house, letting Aya follow. She had fallen silent for the moment. I thought she would explode with concern so I just told her. "He somehow got into his head that I told them, but I didn't. I wouldn't betray him like that. I wouldn't betray anyone like that."

She seemed reluctant to speak but was unable to stand the silence. "He didn't believe you?"

I snorted, pretending I really didn't care. "That stubborn fool? Yeah right." In truth, it hurt. I thought I deserved more trust than that. Of course, no amount of great acting would have been able to hide that from Aya. She could look into your soul and uncover things you didn't see—or things you didn't _want_ to see. She could make sense of your swirling mix of emotions when all you could do was sit there in confusion. She was incredible.

"He believes you now." I looked up at Aya from behind the refrigerator door where I'd been hunting for a bottle of water. "He figured out that it was one of the servants who'd told the police. They said that as long as he's within a week of his 18th birthday they would let him live on his own."

I looked out the window and gripped the lid of the bottle, twisting it open. "Good."

* * *

On Sunday Kai called twice but hung up. I don't think he knew that I saved his number on my phone. Not that I wanted to talk to him anyways. I wasn't done being angry yet. I turned my phone off. 


	18. Getting Together

Hi everyone. This is black lightning again. I finally got the last chapter up. It's _really_ long compared to my other chapters. Enjoy! PS: this chapter jumps back and forth between Casey and Kai a lot.

Thanks to: native-kitten, BirdsofPrey9832, Desastrus, my new reviewer Hibiki-chan, and gliitch for reviewing even though I didn't say it was required for a new chapter to come up. Thank you so very much. You guys were great. You always gave me lots of support when I needed to know that somebody liked my story (or was, at least, reading it).

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_**Chapter 18: Getting Together**_

_**Casey:**_

Come Monday morning I had pretty much gotten my anger under control. Well, I thought I had. I knew the moment I woke up that today would not be a good day. I had gotten plenty of sleep that night but was still exhausted. On top of that, I couldn't find anything to eat for breakfast, killed Putter in the middle of an intersection, forgot my cell phone at home, and lost my lunch money.

I entered homeroom that morning to an extremely unwelcome sight. Kai sat in the middle of a large, screaming group of well-wishers all telling him how much they felt sorry for him. He didn't give them a second glance. Tala and Spencer acted as body guards, keeping the crowd at bay.

I couldn't help but let my scowl deepen a bit as I headed for my desk. The day kept getting better. I gave a brief thought to Kai's socially-challenged manner and shrugged. It would do him good to step out of his comfort zone once in a while and make the first effort to speak. It would do him good to learn how to apologize. Then, another thought struck me. _All of this is assuming that he will apologize at all._

000

_**Kai:**_

Kai watched Casey enter the room and lay her head in her arms as she sat down at her desk. She didn't look any happier with him than she had when she left his house Friday night. _Wonderful. Now how am I supposed to apologize to her?_

_Hold up. _He stopped and blinked. Why did he have to apologize to her? He'd never apologized to anyone. Either he didn't think it was necessary or it was his friends that were mad at him. They knew how he 'apologized,' even if it wasn't with an, "I'm sorry." So why would he bother apologizing to Casey? She was just another girl. She didn't really mean anything to him. Besides, she'd probably get over it without his help anyways.

But if she was just another girl, why was he getting so stressed?

* * *

_**Casey:**_

I skipped lunch. I had, after all, forgotten my lunch money. I didn't have any way to pay for food. So instead of following the rushing flow of students to the cafeteria after 3rd period I slipped away from the crowd and headed down the hall to my locker. There, I slowly gathered my things for my next class and sat cross-legged on the floor with my book in my lap. I hadn't read in a while.

Now, I realize girls aren't supposed to sit cross-legged in Japan. That's supposed to be a guy thing. I was past caring.

My reading session went uninterrupted for about 10 more minutes. A familiar pair of shoes stopped at the end of the hall, paused a moment, and slipped into the bathroom. I tried to keep my eyes glued to my book but found that, when I reached the end of my paragraph, I had no idea what I'd read. So I went back and tried reading it again without success. I went over the same sentence at least 7 times with out absorbing its meaning. I finally resigned myself to staring at the page until he came out.

000

_**Kai:**_

"Hey Kai. You okay man?" Kai swatted Tala's frantically waving hand from in front of his face and grunted. "You zoned again. You've been doing that all morning. What's up with you?" Tala then lowered his voice. "I thought you were cool with word getting out about your old man."

"I'm fine." He stood up to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"I have to pee. Is that okay with you?"

Tala waved a hand dismissively. "I suppose. Carry on." Aya giggled at this and Tala grinned at her. For once, it looked as if Tala was going to stick with his girlfriend for a while. He grunted again and snuck out of the cafeteria, hoping nobody saw and/or followed him. He hated when they did that.

He went to the nearest bathroom to find an 'out of order' sign propped up against the half-open door. He was able to glimpse toilet paper hanging from the ceiling. McGregor must have TPed the bathroom again.

Now he had to walk half-way across the school to a different one. He sighed but headed in the direction of the nearest in-order toilet… the one near the lockers. This left him with a decent amount of time to think. Great.

He _was_ cool with people knowing about his grandfather. Really. _Damn it Casey. Why do you have to make things so complicated?_

As if answering him, he discovered her by her locker reading as he rounded a corner. He froze. Why was life so cruel? Stiffly, he forced himself into the bathroom. _What now, idiot? _he thought. _What are you going to do now? If you don't go say it it'll drive you nuts. I don't know why, but it will. It's just 2 words. Just 2 words. JUST SAY I—!"_

"You know, in my old school there was an unwritten rule that nobody took a dump in the school bathrooms." He jumped. He'd been in the bathroom for about 10 minutes having a mental civil war and she must have heard him shuffling around behind the door.

000

_**Casey:**_

He came out of the bathroom after a decent pause and glared at me as if I was the reason for all of his troubles. I glared back. I guess I hadn't gotten over it yet. His face took on a sort of grimace and a visible effort was shown to say something.

Finally, the words came out, though clearly forced and grudgingly. "I'm sorry," he growled. I saw him look away at the lockers to his right.

I clenched my teeth and tried to keep the scowl off my face. I'm not sure how well it worked. If he'd said it normally, like anyone else would have, I may have told him he was forgiven, even if he wasn't yet. But when he made it seem so hard to say…. Look, I understood that he was under a lot of stress that night but he still shouldn't have blamed me. He still should have listened.

000

_**Kai:**_

Out of the corner of his eye he saw her stand up and grab her bag. She was coming towards him. She stopped when she drew level with him in the hallway, not even looking in his direction.

"Save it Kai. I'm not done being mad just yet."

He blinked. Of all the things he expected her to say, this hadn't been one of them. He had taken all that time and effort, had torn at his pride to say sorry to her, and she had refused the apology. Was she really that angry with him? Had he really screwed it up that bad?

Kai folded his arms and watched her round the corner out of sight, feeling uneasy. He didn't like this position one bit.

* * *

_**Casey:**_

I sat at home that night, headphones on and listening to a CD my friend sent me with several rock songs on it. I'd have to thank her. I was stretched out on my stomach on my bed when Allison gave a yank on the cord and painfully removed the headphones from my ears. "What?" I demanded.

"Kai's here and he's asking for you." Venom dripped from her voice.

I sighed. At least he was persistent. _Stop assuming. He might not be here to apologize. He's probably going to yell at me for blowing off his apology earlier. I wouldn't blame him but I won't say I regret it. I won't. _I pressed the pause button and walked purposely down the stairs and over to the door, taking a deep breath and opening it to find… nothing.

I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I jumped and turned to see Kai sitting on the couch in the living room, arms crossed and eyebrow raised. Forcing the blush off my face I motioned for him to follow me outside, praying I wouldn't look like such an idiot then. Well, a girl can dream.

He closed the front door behind him. I took another deep breath. "Okay, what do you want?" I tried to make it sound pleasant. Hint: tried. He seemed to winced slightly.

"I know you still hate me and all but," he wouldn't meet my eye, "I really am sorry. I shouldn't have gotten angry like that and I shouldn't have attacked you." There was a long pause where I blinked, stunned. He had just given a _really_ good apology. "So… yeah. Take it or leave it but that's the last time I'm going to say it."

I watched him give me an uncertain look, at a loss for what to say. Then, deciding it was a good time to leave, he headed for his car. I wanted to say something. I _had_ to say something. "Kai!" He paused and looked at me over his shoulder. "Y-you know, emotions aren't optional. They're part of being human. Most of the time you can just push them down but sometimes they get too strong and… all you can do is direct the flood." I was fidgeting nervously, feeling very foolish for saying something so touchy-feely. He turned all the way around, giving me the impression that I should keep going with whatever I was saying and get to the point. "You can't help but get angry sometimes and I know it's hard to figure out where to go with it but… sometimes if you just step outside yourself for a minute and see how other people will react…. A-and I know I haven't done that and I should have but…. I'm sorry Kai."

I ended it there, knowing that I sounded so stupid and wanting to take the words back or suddenly laugh at them like they had no meaning but it was far too late to do either of those things.

"Don't apologize," he told me. There was another long pause where he leaned up against his car and stared up at the sky. "How do you do that?" he asked. He didn't even have to see my face to know I was confused. "How is it that you always know the right thing to say to show me that I was wrong without actually saying it?" I was thoroughly confused.

"Kai, I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Yes you do," he told me. "You always understand." I blinked. "Every time I do or say something wrong you're always there to fix it, for me and everyone else. I don't know how you do it."

**_000_**

"Casey, I love you."

I gasped in shock. Did he just say what I think he said? "Kai… I love you too." I ran up and threw my arms around his neck. He kissed me.

_The camera spins up and away from the couple. 2 birds flutter past, singing. Everyone is happy and we have a fairy-tale ending where everyone gets married at the end and lives happily ever after._

_Ha. You wish the story ended this fast._

_**000**_

Without further explanation, Kai climbed into his car and drove off, leaving me confused and uncertain in my front lawn. I'd never heard Kai say anything so deep before. Heck, I'd never heard him say more than 2 sentences at a time unless he was mad. I felt like there was more behind his words than I was getting, like there was some internal conflict that he wanted me to catch on to.

* * *

Tuesday and Wednesday passed without any time or opportunity to talk to Kai. Thursday, however, I was determined to speak with him. He was having a birthday party at his house that night. There were fliers around the school advertising it. I thought it was strange that Kai, who wasn't a people person, would invite the entire school to his birthday party. Oh well. It wasn't my place to question his actions. 

At a quarter to 8:00 I climbed into my truck, making sure I had his gift. That would be my excuse to talk to him. I would go up to him, hand him his present, and ask him what he was wanting me to pick up on that I was too stupid to get. That was my plan.

I pulled in his driveway, already lined with cars a few minutes later. I'm a very paranoid person so I'm always at least 10 minutes early if I can help it. I parked behind Tala's car.

Inside the mansion, multi-colored lights floated across the ceiling, a DJ was set up behind several large speakers, and a TV hooked up to a camera floated through the still small crowd, attached to Tala's hand. Aya's face popped up on the screen and she grinned in black and white.

I looked around the room, trying to find Kai. It was probably best to talk to him before everyone got there. I scanned the crowd but couldn't find him. Sighing inwardly, I wove my way through the crowd to Aya, still clutching my gift. She'd taken the camera and was now pointing it at her boyfriend, who did several different poses—much to the pleasure of the group of girls in front of the TV.

"Hey, Aya!" I shouted over the music already pulsing through the room. "Have you seen Kai? I have to give him his present." I held up the brightly wrapped gift as evidence.

"Ooooh. What is it?" She was practically bouncing up and down with excitement. I smiled. It was good to see her so happy.

"You'll see."

"Aww. You're no fun," she whined mockingly. "Tala! Where's Kai?"

The red head had stopped posing when he saw that Aya was being distracted and had started filming the crowd. He considered Aya's question a moment before pointing up the stairs. I shouted a thanks and headed in that direction.

The stairs were carpeted and short so there were several to climb before I reached the second story. When I got there I was faced with a wide hallway and several doors. There was no sign of Kai. I looked down several hallways, lost. What now? Just then, a maid rushed past and hung up a sign pointing the way to the bathrooms.

"Excuse me?" She jumped and turned around. "Do you know where Kai is?" She nodded and pointed to one of the doors. I gave her a smile. "Thank you." She nodded again and rushed off.

I knocked on the door she'd pointed at and waited. Kai opened the door a moment later. He seemed surprised to see me. I saw him do a quick scan of the hall and, after determining that it was empty, motioned for me to come in. I did so and he closed the door behind me, shutting out most of the sound. My ears were ringing.

I found myself in a large sitting room, though it was probably small compared to most of the other rooms in the mansion. The carpet was a deep red and the walls a soft shade of tan. Several large, wing-backed chairs and red couches lined the walls, coffee tables laden with food sitting in front of them.

"Happy Birthday, Kai." I held out the gift. There was a flash of something in his eyes but it was gone before I could see what it was. He took it and tore the paper back, revealing a simple yet elegant wooden picture frame and a photo of the band. How do you buy a gift for someone with enough money to buy out every store in the mall?

He gave a grunt of thanks and continued staring at it for a long time.

I swallowed before finally speaking up. "Kai, when you came to my house a few days ago I got the impression that you wanted me to know something that I wasn't getting. Whatever it is you can tell me. I'm not going to be upset." I waited there for a long time but he didn't say anything. He just stood there and stared at the picture.

Defeatedly, I headed for the door. I shouldn't have expected him to say anything. I should have paid closer attention and not had to ask. Some friend I was.

000

_**Kai:**_

He stood there, unable to tear his gaze away from the picture. He just traced her form with his finger. It had taken a lot of thought but he finally got himself to admit it. Casey wasn't just another girl. She never had been, he'd just been too stubborn to see it. He was going to regret the day he told her—the day he tore his pride to shreds. Part of him really wanted to tell her but….

She was leaving. He knew what he had to do, but it had to be fast and it had to be now. Still holding the picture he took a few sprinting strides across the room. She had her hand on the doorknob.

Quickly, he stuck his foot in front of the door to stop her from opening it, grabbed her wrist, and spun her around. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see her reaction. She tensed and he quickly pulled away.

000

_**Casey:**_

_H-he just… just kissed me! _My eyes were wide and my whole body was tense with shock. This was not what I expected. It wasn't what I expected at all. Kai was… he was untouchable! No girl had ever been able to win his heart. Ever.

He looked extremely embarrassed. I think he regretted it. "Kai…." He quickly turned on his heel and went across the room, folding his arms across his chest and staring at the wall.

The door handle suddenly turned beneath my fingers and I jumped away from it like it had bitten me. The ignorant Tala barged into the room, followed by Aya and Spencer. "Hey there Kai! Let's get ready to party! There's a crowd on the dance floor and a bunch of hot girls waiting to dance with the Birthday Boy!" Aya cleared her throat. "Heheh. Sorry."

"Mm-hm." She raised an eyebrow and eventually dragged him out the door to dance with her. I couldn't help but giggle a bit. She wouldn't put up with his crap anymore. Not with him being the flirt he was.

Spencer told me that it was a tradition for every single (as in not taken) girl at the party to dance with Kai at least once unless he wanted to dance with them more. So far that hadn't happened. I silently wondered if he'd dance with me more than once. He danced with about 3 girls each slow dance, switching when he felt it was the right time.

I stood around the edge of the dance floor like I always do, letting the music pound through me. I watched as the line of girls waiting to dance with Kai slowly dwindled. I couldn't believe the small flicker of jealousy that sparked within me. Did I like Kai too? I hated to say that because it made me sound like a clingy fangirl but….

"Hey, hey kids! It's almost 11:00! We'll have 2 more slow dances coming up. Who hasn't danced with Kai yet?" _It's almost 11:00 already? There's no way it's been 3 hours. _I checked my watch. 10:48.

The music started and I made my way towards where Kai was dancing with a girl I didn't recognize. After about a minute he dismissed her and headed towards the sidelines. He looking like he was searching for something. Taking a deep breath and hoping against hope that the something was me I walked up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around and tensed when he saw me. "Do _I_ get a dance?"

Kai gave me a curt nod and led the way onto the dance floor, right in front of the speakers. He hesitantly placed his hands on my waist, pretending to be non-chalant, but I could tell he was nervous. I placed my hands on his shoulders, thinking how comical we must look, me being so much shorter than him.

I took a deep breath. "Don't look so embarrassed, Kai. I—." He held a finger behind his ear and turned his head slightly. He couldn't hear me. "I said don't look so embarrassed because—." He shook his head. We really shouldn't have stood in front of the speakers. He leaned down even further so his ear hovered a few inches above me. Not have the guts to do more, I stood on my tip-toes and gave him a peck on the cheek. His eyes widened considerably.

Just then, an electric guitar started screaming the opening chords of a new, much livelier song. Kai drug me off the dance floor away from the speakers into an empty corner of the room. "You—." He seemed to stumble over his words. "You actually—."

I smiled. "Your not the only one with half a heart Kai."

"I only have half of one? Thanks."

I giggled at his sarcasm. "Now Kai, don't you have something you want to ask me?"

He made a face. "Do I have to?"

I laughed again. "No. You already have." Okay, I'll admit it. I hugged him. I just couldn't help it. He smiled back at me. I was a small smile, barely a twitch of his lips but it seemed to brighten up his whole face. After a minute, the last slow song of the night came on and I drug him out there to dance again.

The whole scene was kind of cheesy but it was exactly how I'd pictured it: gentle music, swaying crowd, and a boyfriend, leaning down to kiss me. The only thing I hadn't been able to imagine was the boyfriend. If you'd told me a week ago—heck, if you'd told me yesterday—that I'd be making out with Kai at his birthday party I would have laughed in your face. He was the crush I just realized I'd always had and this is my cheesy love story.

**_THE END_**

* * *

WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO! All done. Okay, I hope you enjoyed that. It took a long time! Bigger celebration because it's the first story I've finished since elementary! Heheh. That's a bit sad isn't it? Oh well. Now, after a short break I will start working on my Whistle! story again. Maybe I'll finish that one too! By the way: If you're a Naruto fan please visit my profile and read the first chapter of my story. It won't show up in the Naruto catagory so only those that visit my profile can see it. How depressing. It's only had 11 hits. 


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